Through A Ravenclaw's Eyes: Padma Patil's Story
by randombookworm29
Summary: Padma Patil is an attractive, intelligent Ravenclaw. The story of her life and how she views the wizarding world from Year 1 at Hogwarts onwards. My first fan fic, so please R&R. This story is now on HIATUS. See profile and chapter 18 for more details.
1. Letters from Hogwarts

**Chapter 1: Letters from Hogwarts**

On the second floor of a Victorian terraced house in London, Padma Patil sat on her bed, reading as usual. In this case, it was a battered and well-thumbed copy of _A Brief History of Magic_. Her twin sister Parvati lay on her own bed, intently studying her star charts in the latest issue of _Witch Weekly_. Padma looked up from reading.

"Why do you read that rubbish?" she asked.

"It's not rubbish," Parvati said.

"It is," Padma said, knowing that she was annoying her sister.

Parvati rolled her eyes,

"It takes hundreds of calculations and hours of work to make a single chart," she said. "So there," she added, sticking out her tongue.

Padma snorted through her nose, most definitely not convinced, and turned back to reading her book.

Although they were identical twins, Padma and Parvati were different in many ways. The room that they shared at the front of the house was decorated in a mismatch of their separate tastes.

Padma's half, nearest to the window, was filled full with as many books as possible; they were piled up at the foot of her bed, crammed into bookshelves and there were even copies underneath her bedside lamp. There were pictures that she had drawn and photographs of her family pinned up on the cork board over her bed.

Parvati's half, closest to the door, was filled with trinkets from their father's native India; an elephant tusk carved with moving designs and a snake charmer's flute. She also had a lunarscope that their grandmother had bought her on her bedside table. Her parts of the walls were covered with posters of the Weird Sisters, as well as numerous star charts and horoscope calculations.

"Girls!" their mother's voice cried from downstairs. "Breakfast!"

Padma marked her place in her book and hurried downstairs after Parvati. Her father and grandmother were already seated in the dining room, and tea and toast was on the table. Her father read a copy of the _Daily Prophet_, running a hand through his thinning hair now and again. He wore his pinstriped robes and his cloak was draped over the back of his chair. From the clinking of china and the sound of a soft female voice singing along to the _Witching Hour_, it was clear that her mother was in the kitchen.

"Good morning," Padma said brightly.

She sat down beside her sister and began to butter a slice of toast. Her grandmother, who had a thin, stern face and greying hair pulled into a bun, was dressed in a green silk sari this morning. She smiled at Padma briefly before turning to talk to Parvati.

"So, what did your charts say?" she asked.

"I'm meant to have a fairly good month," Parvati explained enthusiastically. "I should get something that I've wanted for a while."

Her grandmother nodded sagely.

"But you know that you should be careful about what these charts say, and make your own if possible," she said, pouring herself tea. "Some of these people can See no further than the end of their own noses!"

Parvati nodded. Her father frowned deeply, peering over his glasses.

"Don't speak so, mother!" he said. "You know fine well how hard I work within the Ministry to banish such prejudices!"

His mother rolled her eyes and sipped on her tea.

"I'm stuck in my ways now, Parmesh," she said. "My opinions are my own."

Padma chortled and sprayed toast crumbs over her plate. Her grandmother was always arguing with everyone about everything.

Her mother entered the room carrying a tray with another pot of tea and several stacks of toast upon it. Surya Patil had an oval face with deep brown eyes and her hair was twisted and fastened at the back of her head with a round clip. She already wore her work robes for St Mungo's; lime green with the emblem of a crossed wand and bone on the chest.

"Good morning," she said, and kissed her husband on the cheek.

"Morning mum," Padma and Parvati said simultaneously. They reached across the table for more toast.

Their father, who worked for the Department for International Magic Co-operation, pushed his glasses back up his nose before folding up the _Daily Prophet_ and sipping on his tea. Padma took it from between the toast and the tea pot, and began to read the front page story on the discovery of an illegal Hippogriff farm. Parvati drained her tea cup.

"Read my leaves for me, grandmother."

"All right, my dear," she said, sounding very pleased, "hand over your cup."

Padma watched over the top of the newspaper. Her grandmother took the willow pattern cup in her long fingers and turned it this way and that, examining the dregs. Parvati sat on the edge of her seat, eager to know what the future held.

"I see great things in this particular cup," her grandmother mused. She pursed her thin lips. "Yes, great things. Things that you will be rewarded for…"

At this point, Padma switched off. Although her grandmother's predictions were often correct - she was always telling them how she came from a long line of Indian Seers - Padma had always thought Divination to be a very imprecise branch of magic. She preferred something with good, solid facts that you could read in a book.

A tawny owl glided in through the open door and settled on a perch by the fireplace, dropping several letters to the floor.

"Post is here," Parvati said.

The owl preened itself and hooted softly before flying back out of the room. Mrs Patil picked the envelopes up from beneath the perch. She flicked through them as she sat back down at her seat,

"A re-subscription letter for the _Daily Prophet_ and two letters for you, girls."

She smiled at them and handed over two identical envelopes with the addresses written on in emerald green ink. Padma turned hers over and found a red wax seal with a very distinct crest pressed into it.

"Hogwarts letters!" she and Parvati cried together

Padma felt her heart soar. She'd been dreaming of going to Hogwarts for years. She beamed at her mother and father. Parvati, on the other hand, was screaming hysterically and hugging everyone around the table. As she was in the process of hugging her grandmother around the shoulders for a third time she eagerly asked,

"Do I get a present for getting in?"

"I don't see why not," her father said, glancing over at his wife.

"Maybe an owl," Parvati said, "or a cat or…"

Padma didn't hear the rest of her sister's long list of gift ideas. Instead, she opened the envelope with trembling hands and read and re-read the letter. Looking up, she found her sister dancing around the room with glee, and she couldn't help but smile.

"And what do you want as a reward for getting into Hogwarts?" her grandmother asked kindly.

Padma thought for a while.

"I don't really know," she said. "Maybe a book…"

That was clearly the word that Meera Patil hadn't wanted to hear. Her face grew stormy and Parvati stopped her victorious dance.

"No more books, child!" she cried shrilly. "You have a whole room of them already. You spend too much time upstairs, wrapped up in those dusty old things." She smiled at Padma and her voice was suddenly softer. "Maybe you should get something useful for once, child. A set of dress robes in silk perhaps."

Padma bowed her head, staring resolutely at her plate. Her grandmother had always been like this, for as long as she could remember. She had always favoured Parvati, saying that she would make her relatives in India proud by taking such an interest in their traditions. She never said anything like that about Padma.

"Mother…" her father began.

"No, no," she said sharply. "I will not have this conversation with you again. You know how I feel about this."

Mr Patil fell silent. Padma's heart sank back down. He was always trying to argue that her interest in books was perfectly normal, but her grandmother would never allow him to get a word in edgeways. Mrs Patil would sit quietly and say nothing, but it was clear what she thought. Parvati gave Padma a sympathetic look as she sat back down. Padma smiled half-heartedly.

"I'll clear the dishes," she said.

She piled the dirty plates and cups onto the tray and took them into the kitchen, putting them into the sink. The narrow room had several shelves of cookbooks such a _Magical Menus_ and _Charming Cakes_ over the cooker, and above the pantry door was a clock with five hands covered in silver stars. Mrs Patil bustled into the kitchen, making a cloth clean the plates with a flick of her wand before hugging Padma.

"Don't worry about your grandmother," she reassured her in a whisper. "You know what she's like. She doesn't love you any less than your sister."

Padma nodded, though she severely doubted it.

"I know."

"Good. Now go and say goodbye to your father, he's off to work."

Back in the dining room, her father was pulling on his black cloak and gathering up his briefcase from the floor. He hugged Parvati and Padma in turn before kissing his wife on the cheek. He conjured a fire in the empty grate with his wand.

"I should be back by seven," he said brightly. "If the meeting with my Chinese counterpart doesn't run over, that is."

He took some Floo powder from a small silver box on the mantelpiece and tossed it onto the fire. The flames roared an emerald green and he stooped to step into the fireplace.

"Ministry of Magic," he said clearly. In a flash of green flames he was gone.

Mrs Patil smiled at her daughters.

"You'll have to go to Diagon Alley to get all of your new school things." She went into the hall to get her cloak from the coat rack. "Meera, will you be able to take the girls while I'm at work?"

"Of course," their grandmother said. "We'll have to take the Knight Bus, though. My heart can't take travelling by Floo."

Padma grimaced. The Knight Bus wasn't the most comfortable way to travel in the wizarding world, especially when it suddenly jumped to another location. Parvati looked equally thrilled as she pulled on her jacket.

"We'll go from the back lane," their mother said. "I may as well come with you. I have plenty of time before I have to start at work."

Mrs Patil helped her mother in law with her cloak. Padma's grandmother picked up a large carpet bag and set off towards the kitchen.

"Best go now, before the crowds arrive."

The four of them walked out of the back door and through the small back yard. It was filled full of herbs that Padma's mother used in her home remedies, and the small greenhouse housed several unusual specimens that she kept hidden from their Muggle neighbours with several different charms. Outside the yard was a small alleyway which was empty except for dustbins and a couple of stray cats that were looking for food.

Mrs Patil glanced around, her hand in her robes. She waited a moment to check that none of the curtains were twitching and pulled out her wand, holding it out into the lane.

There was a tremendous BANG and a huge violet triple-decker bus rolled to a stop outside the back gate. It had the words _Knight Bus_ written above the driver's seat in gold. A skinny boy with large protruding ears and pimples stood on a platform at the back of the bus, a ticket machine around his neck and a cap on his head. He only looked about sixteen.

"Welcome to the Knight Bus," he said in a rather squeaky voice. "Jus' stick out your wand hand an' we can take you anywhere you want to go. My name is Stan Shunpike and I will be your conductor this mornin'."

He hopped off the bus to help Padma's grandmother up. Padma stepped on board. There were a couple of frail looking witches at the back of the bus sitting on a red velvet sofa, one of them who was asleep, and a witch of about twenty sat on a high backed chair reading a copy of Transfiguration Today.

"Where to then, ladies?" Stan asked.

"Three to the Leaky Cauldron and one to St Mungo's," Mrs Patil said.

She handed over a handful of coins and Stan gave her four tickets. He sat down on an armchair beside the wizard driving the bus.

"Take 'er away, Ern."

BANG. Padma was flung back into a wooden chair as they hurtled down a long promenade at a seaside resort. She winced and watched as they passed a pier, then dodged around a couple of trams. Her grandmother, who was settled in a flowery armchair, took some knitting from her carpet bag and set it to work in front of her.

BANG. They were thundering down a narrow country lane. For a moment it seemed as though Ernie was going to crash into a fence. But he changed his mind and pulled back onto the road with a sudden jerk of the steering wheel.

"I hate this," Parvati said. She looked rather green and held her hand over her mouth.

Padma smiled, but was flung forward out of her chair as the Knight Bus stopped unexpectedly. She pushed her long hair out of her face and scrambled to her feet. Stan had disappeared up the stairs and returned with an elderly wizard who held an ear trumpet.

"I said we're at your stop, Mr Vance!" Stan shouted at the top of his voice.

"We're in France?" the wizard asked curiously. "That can't be right! Speak up, boy; I can't hear a word you're saying!"

"It's your stop, Mr Vance!" Stan repeated even louder.

"Why didn't you say that before?" the elderly wizard asked snippily. "Young wizards today!

Stan rolled his eyes. Padma and Parvati giggled behind their hands as he helped Mr Vance off the Knight Bus and then tossed his trunk onto the road. He sat back down beside Ernie, muttering in a disgruntled way.

BANG. The Knight Bus careered down a busy London street. It wound its way between taxis and buses with ease and cut across a cyclist to thunder down a narrower street. The cars parked on either side jumped out of the way as they passed. Padma managed to stop herself from being flung from her seat again as they came to a halt outside a small, grubby looking pub.

"Have a nice day," her mother said.

She hugged Padma and Parvati as their grandmother crammed her knitting back into her bag. Stan helped Meera down from the Knight Bus. Padma and Parvati stood together on the pavement, waving to their mother.

"'Ave a nice day," he said, tipping his hat.

With a final BANG, the Knight Bus disappeared from view.

The three of them entered the Leaky Cauldron. Inside, it was dark and smoky, and there was a low murmur of chatter that rose up to the ceiling. Two old wizards with battered hats sat in one corner discussing their purchases and drinking Firewhiskey. A family sat in another corner, two little wizards arguing over Chocolate Frog cards.

Meera sat down at a round table, Padma and Parvati following suit. The innkeeper came over, cleaning a glass on his apron.

"What can I get you?" he asked.

"A pot of tea and three cups, if you please."

Padma looked around the room. It was dull and grimy, and numerous shabby tapestries hung on the wall, while light came from candles in brackets on the walls. The innkeeper returned with the tea on a tray and her grandmother paid him.

"Are you looking forward to going to Hogwarts?" she asked them.

Padma nodded enthusiastically.

"Mum told me that the library is enormous! I can't wait to see it…"

She trailed off as her grandmother frowned at her.

"You shouldn't be so enveloped in reading," she said curtly. "You should be interested in the traditional arts of your people, such as reading the leaves." She sipped on her tea.

Padma felt tears prick her eyes but she brushed them aside, biting her lower lip to stop it from trembling. Parvati glanced at her and smiled reassuringly. She adjusted her long plait over her shoulder and straightened the ornamental butterfly on it.

"Broaden your horizons, child," her grandmother said.

"Yes grandmother," Padma said quietly.

Meera put down her cup and stood up as a large group of people entered the small pub, talking and laughing loudly. She watched as they disappeared through another door at the back of the room.

"We'll go now," she said. "Wands first, I think. That's one of the most important things you will buy today. Hurry along now!"

They followed the group of witches and wizards through the door. Outside was a small back yard with only a dustbin in it and weeds growing through the cobbles. Meera rummaged around in her back, pulling out a bottle of Butterbeer and several tea bags before she found her wand. She tapped it several times against the wall opposite the door, muttering under her breath. Finding the correct brick, she tapped it three times.

A small hole opened in the brick, becoming larger and larger until it formed an archway, revealing a street that twisted away into the distance. Although she'd been to Diagon Alley many times, Padma couldn't help but gasp in amazement as the sights, smells and sounds washed over her. Meera gripped her granddaughters' shoulders.

"Wands first!" she said briskly.


	2. Diagon Alley

**Chapter 2: Diagon Alley**

Meera Patil steered her two granddaughters down a set of stone steps and onto the cobbled street of Diagon Alley.

"Come on," she said. "Hurry up, girls."

Padma followed her grandmother and twin sister down the crowded street. An elderly couple argued loudly outside the apothecary about the price of frog spleen, and at the window of Quality Quidditch Supplies, a large group of young witches and wizards crowded around the latest racing broom, a Nimbus 2000.

Her grandmother paused momentarily at a shop selling magical instruments to talk to the owner about the latest lunarscopes, but soon enough they were hurrying along past Gringotts and came upon Ollivanders.

It was a shabby shop with rather grubby windows, and the words _Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 _BC were peeling away from the sign above the door. There was a single wand upon a faded purple cushion in the window, and when Meera pushed open the door, a bell rang shrilly, announcing their arrival.

Inside was musty and dust swirled around the rafters, glowing in the early morning sunlight. Padma's grandmother sat down on a spindly chair by the window, pulling her knitting out of her bag again and setting it to work. Padma and Parvati stood side by side nervously. The only sound in the shop was the gentle clicking of knitting needles.

"Good morning," said a voice from behind some shelves.

Mr Ollivander stepped out into the shop, smiling at the twins. He had wild white hair and pale eyes, and glanced from one girl to the other, his eyes unblinking. Padma felt uneasy and decided to stare at the wooden floor instead of looking at him.

"I remember your mother coming for her wand," he said, his voice barely over a whisper. "Eight inches, willow, with a unicorn hair core." He paused for a moment. "But I can't recall ever serving your father."

Padma looked up from the floor.

"He lived in India and was schooled there," she said shyly.

Mr Ollivander nodded sagely.

"I understand." He pointed a long finger at Padma. "You first please, my dear."

Padma stepped forward as Mr Ollivander disappeared behind some shelves. As he went, a tape measure floated up from the counter and started to measure her arm of its own accord. Parvati grinned as the tape wound itself around Padma's neck. Padma tried to swat it away.

"Get back over here!" Mr Ollivander said sharply.

The tape measure unravelled itself from Padma and floated back over to the counter.

"Try this wand," Mr Ollivander said. "Ten and a half inches, made of ash with a unicorn hair core."

Padma took the wand lightly in her hand. Suddenly, warmth rushed up her arm and bronze sparks rushed from the tip of the wand. Mr Ollivander smiled warmly at her. Padma turned around to find her grandmother beaming.

"Well done," she said warmly.

Parvati smiled as well. Padma was given a hinged box to put her wand in and sat down on the floor beside her grandmother, crossing her legs and watching as Parvati began the process of finding her wand. As the tape measure looped about Parvati's wrist, Padma looked up at her grandmother.

"Can I go and get the rest of my school things while Parvati gets her wand?"

Her grandmother nodded shortly. She handed Padma her Hogwart's letter and a purse full of money. Padma put them into a pocket inside her cloak.

"Parvati and I will meet you at the Leaky Cauldron at one o'clock," she said. "Don't go wandering down Knockturn Alley and don't talk to any strangers. Understand?"

"Yes, grandmother," Padma said.

Padma stepped outside the musty shop and suddenly felt as if she could breathe properly for the first time. She glanced back at Ollivanders and set off down the street.

Diagon Alley was even busier now. Young witches and wizards dragged their parents from shop to shop, a large group of elderly wizards argued over an article in _Astronomy Today_, and smoke and sparks was pouring from the door of Gambol and Japes. The owner opened the door and shooed several hissing fireworks out onto the street.

An elderly couple ducked a spinning rocket, holding onto their hats. Padma continued to walk, taking in her surroundings. All around her were witches and wizards shopping, on a daytrip from the country, and there were street peddlers shouting their wares.

"Love potions!" a witch shouted. "Home made top quality love potions!"

"Quality lunarscopes for sale!" shouted a shabbily dressed wizard. "Knockdown prices; I only 'ave a couple left! Get 'em while you can!"

Padma was sure she saw a sack of tarnished and cracked lunarscopes shoved into a battered suitcase behind him. She passed the wizard without looking at him and headed towards Flourish and Blott's to buy her school books.

Inside was packed with witches and wizards. The whole shop was filled with books. They were stacked up one on top of the other to the ceiling, crammed into bookshelves and some were even piled onto chairs that were meant to be for the customers. A stern looking saleswizard looked very flustered as two tiny witches, probably no older than five, knocked over a stack of books before disappearing from sight. He looked close to tears as he piled them up once more.

Padma looked around for her schoolbooks, squeezing past a plump witch to get her copy of _A History of Magic_. Soon enough she had a pile up to her nose and she struggled to see where she was going, tripping over a book as thick as a brick and dropping her schoolbooks all over the floor. She knelt down to pick them up, reaching out for her copy of the _Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1)_.

"I've got it," a voice said.

Padma raised her head. A boy about her age was crouched in front of her, holding out the book. He had bright blue eyes, a long thin nose and tan coloured hair. He smiled warmly at Padma as they both stood up.

"Thanks," she said shyly, taking the book.

"It's fine," he said. "I'm Terry Boot," he added, holding out a hand.

"Padma Patil."

They shook hands. Padma struggled through the crowded shop to the counter to pay for her books, dropping them to get her money from her cloak. Terry stood next to her.

"Are you starting at Hogwarts this year?" Padma asked him. She handed over her money to the saleswizard.

Terry nodded.

"Who're you here with?"

"My sister and grandmother," she said. "They're probably still trying to get her wand at Ollivanders. Then they'll go and look at Divination supplies. I have to meet them at the Leaky Cauldron at one o'clock."

Padma took her books in a bag and headed over to the door. She turned suddenly as the saleswizard who had served her screamed. He was staring at a pile of books scattered across the floor. The two little witches had knocked them over again.

"Oh, for goodness' sake!" he shouted. "I just re-stacked all of those copies of _Martin Miggs the Mad Muggle_ two minutes ago! Look what you've done!"

Padma gawped as the two witches burst into tears. Their mother, a formidable looking witch, hurried over. She tried to quieten them and scream at the saleswizard at the same time. The whole of the shop was watching the scene unfold.

"How dare you!" she screeched. "They're just books, after all, and my girls are only five; they couldn't help it! Shame on you for shouting at them so!"

Padma tried to stifle a giggle. She glanced back at the scene, watching as the wizard sank to the floor sobbing as the witch continued to scream at him, her face reddening. It was Terry who broke first; he gave a snort of amusement and hurried out of Flourish and Blott's. Padma followed him, her ribs aching from holding in her laughter.

They sat down on the floor, tears streaming down their faces. Padma took a deep breath and wiped her eyes. She glanced at her watch.

"I'd better get going if I want to get everything bought by one o'clock."

She stood up. Terry followed suit, smiling shyly at her.

"I could come with you," he said. "If you want, that is."

Padma felt her face heat up.

"I suppose so. But what about your parents?"

"They're buying most of my things now," Terry said. "I can't be bothered trailing after my mum. She's a Muggle, so she goes overboard with enthusiasm whenever my dad brings us here."

Padma laughed.

"We'd better get going then."

"Anything left to get?" Terry asked an hour and a half later.

Padma shook her head. She took her books and put them into her cauldron in an attempt to reduce the amount of bags she had to carry. Terry stretched, looking around Diagon Alley. The crowds hadn't got any smaller and there seemed to be a constant stream of shoppers and day-trippers emerging from the back yard of the Leaky Cauldron.

"We haven't been in there yet," he said, pointing to a shop. "And I could do with some more books."

It was a tall, crooked building that looked ancient. There were hundreds of books piled in the windows and stacked on trestle tables outside the door. Padma smiled and followed Terry, lugging her cauldron and bags behind her.

The shop was small, narrow and musty. There were only a couple of people in the shop. A wrinkled old witch was halfway up a ladder sorting books, a young witch wearing a red cloak and hat was reading in a corner and a family stood about one shelf. There was a mother and father, a girl about Padma's age and a younger boy who tugged on his father's sleeve, begging to see the Nimbus 2000 at Quality Quidditch Supplies.

Terry disappeared around a shelf. Padma walked over to another shelf and started to browse through the books. She wanted to find something more challenging than her schoolbooks. Her eyes settled on a thick blue tome title _Moste Ancient Magicke of Asia_. She picked it up and flicked through the pages.

"Magic of Asia," a girl's voice said behind her. "Fascinating, but I prefer to read about African magic."

It was the girl from the other side of the shop. She had blonde hair, blue eyes and a small, delicate nose. She smiled at Padma.

"I'm Lisa Turpin," she said.

"I'm Padma Patil." She paused and closed the book. "Is that your family?"

Lisa nodded. Her ponytail bobbed as she did so.

"My brother's about as much fun as dragon pox," she said darkly. "He's two years younger than me. Have you got any brothers or sisters?"

"My twin sister Parvati," Padma said. "We get along most of the time."

"Lucky you."

Terry walked over, carrying at least five books of varying thicknesses. He smiled quickly at Lisa, shifting the books around to balance them.

"I'd shake your hand, but I'd probably drop these," he said quickly. "I'm Terry Boot."

"I'm Lisa Turpin," she said. "Nice to meet you. Are you both going to Hogwarts?"

Padma nodded and walked over to buy the book. She glanced at her watch.

"I've got to go," she said, gathering up her school things. "My grandmother and sister will be in the Leaky Cauldron by now. I'll probably see you at Hogwarts."

"Have a good summer," Lisa said, smiling.

She walked back over to her family. Terry gathered up his own books and followed Padma out of the shop.

"I'll come with you," he said. "My mum and dad will probably be in the Leaky Cauldron too."

They hurried up Diagon Alley towards the pub, pushing their way through the thronging crowds. At the back door, Padma stopped and looked at Terry.

"Thanks for coming with me," she said gratefully.

"That's alright," he replied. "I had a better time with you than I would have done with mum and dad."

Padma smiled and tightened her grip on her purchases.

"I'll take that as a huge compliment. I'll see you in September, Terry."

She waved at him one last time and headed into the Leaky Cauldron. Padma spotted her grandmother and Parvati sitting at a table in a corner, drinking tea. They were surrounded by bags, and there were cages with two owls in them on the table. One was a small tawny and the other was a large eagle owl.

"Hello Padma," Meera said. She stood up and hugged her. "I'm very proud for you getting into Hogwarts. The eagle owl is a present for you. That way you can keep in touch with us all while you are away."

Padma looked at the owl, stroking its head gently.

"She's beautiful, grandmother." She smiled at Parvati who was sipping her tea and grinning widely at her twin sister. "Thank you."

"We'll go now," her grandmother said. "Go outside and wait for me. I'll pay for the tea."

Padma and Parvati gathered up all of their things and headed towards the door. Glancing around the gloomy pub, Padma spotted Terry sitting down with his parents. He was showing them his books and looked up, catching Padma's eye and waving. Padma waved back and hauled her things outside.

"Who was that?" Parvati asked, dumping her bags on the pavement.

"He's called Terry and he helped me in Flourish and Blott's," Padma said matter-of-factly.

Parvati giggled and played with her hair.

"Do you like him?" she asked.

"Not in that way!" Padma said sharply.

Parvati looked like she wanted to say something else, but she stayed silent when she noticed her grandmother walking out of the Leaky Cauldron. Meera held her wand in one hand and held it out until the Knight Bus rolled to a stop.

"'Ello!" Stan said cheerfully. "Back to your place then, is it?"

Meera nodded. Stan helped her up onto the violet bus and then hauled the twins' purchases on board with a lot of effort. This time Padma managed to sit down before the Knight Bus took off with a BANG.

She sat looking out of the window as they thundered down Charing Cross Road, thinking that the first of September couldn't come quickly enough.


	3. Hogwarts Express

**Chapter 3: Hogwarts Express**

Padma spent the rest of the summer reading through her schoolbooks. She sat in her room, the garden and the living room, all of the time poring through them and absorbing the information. Parvati skimmed her books in the last week, but most of the time she read _Witch Weekly _and was taught how to read tea leaves by her grandmother.

By the time the first of September arrived, Padma had read each book twice. On the morning they had to leave to start their new school, she was sitting at the breakfast table reading the _Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) _for the third time. It was propped up against the tea pot which she had to move every time anyone decided that they wanted another cup. Padma picked it up as her mother took the pot and poured some tea for herself.

"So, are you two looking forward to be going to Hogwarts at last?" she asked.

Padma and Parvati nodded happily and smiled at each other. They would at least have each other when they were away from home.

"We'll be in the same house, won't we mum?" Parvati asked.

Surya Patil glanced at her husband. He frowned slightly, pushed his glasses back up his nose and turned back to the _Daily Prophet_. Padma felt her stomach lurch at the uneasy silence.

"I would think that would be the case," her mother began, "but there is no guarantee. Families aren't always in the same house. Just don't get too hopeful."

Meera nodded and sipped her tea.

"You may be identical in appearance, but you are most definitely different people." She looked at the twins in turn. "Different qualities apply to different houses at Hogwarts, as your mother has told me."

Padma glanced across the table at her twin sister. Parvati was staring at her bowl of cereal, deep in thought. They'd never been apart for so much as a night before. If, by any chance, they weren't in the same house, it would be hard for them.

Their father stood up as a horn beeped outside. He was wearing Muggle clothes instead of his usual robes and walked out of the room. He returned moments later, holding a bundle of coats in his arms.

"The taxi's here," he said. "Now remember, be on your best behaviour. No mentioning anything about magic or Muggles, or the driver will think we're unusual in some way. Understand?" Padma and Parvati nodded. "And try to keep your owls quiet."

Padma pulled on her jacket and grabbed her trunk, allowing her father to take the cage with her owl, Rama, inside. She hauled her trunk down the hallway and steps, allowing the taxi driver to put it into the boot. He frowned as her father handed him the cages containing the owls.

"You allowed to keep these, then?" he asked curiously.

Parmesh looked at him as if he was mad.

"Of course," he said nonplussed. "Doesn't your family have one?"

The taxi driver shook his head and muttered something under his breath that sounded like 'nutter'. He bundled the two owls into the back of the cab and got into his seat, swivelling around.

"Where to then, guv?" he asked.

"Kings Cross Station," Surya said clearly.

o0o

The taxi ride was fairly uneventful, except for when the pulled up near some roadworks and the two owls began to flap and screech loudly because of the noise. An hour and a half later they reached the station and Padma's father eventually managed to pay the driver with Muggle money that he'd got from Gringotts.

Rama and Parvati's owl, Shiva, were hooting loudly as they were piled onto trolleys with the trunks. The whole family walked into the station and headed towards the wall dividing platforms 9 and 10, pushing their way through the crowds. They stood at the wall for several moments, glancing about in a casual way.

"You go first, Parvati," her mother said. "Remember to be casual, and don't draw attention to yourself."

Padma watched as her sister wheeled her trolley back a little and looked about, seemingly checking the time on a large clock. Then she took a deep breath and ran right through the barrier between the two platforms. Padma's mother nodded at her and she trotted forwards. The trolley squeaked loudly and swerved slightly, but she kept running and passed through darkness for several seconds, finally emerging on Platform 9¾.

She smiled broadly. On tracks in front of her was a huge red steam train, smoke pouring from its funnel and floating over the heads of everyone on the platform. There were hundreds of people standing on the platform, chatting loudly and shouting to one another, and some children were in the carriages already, hanging out of the windows to chat to their families.

Parvati waved from beside a carriage and Padma hurried over, her trolley still swerving.

"I can't believe we're actually going to Hogwarts!" Parvati said excitedly.

"I know," Padma said. "It's fantastic!"

They hugged each other tightly. Padma pulled away as their parents and grandmother hurried over. Her mother was crying, and she kissed the twins, hugging them tightly. Their father hugged them in turn, his face full of pride.

"Don't forget to pay attention to your lessons," their grandmother said, hugging them.

Padma smiled at Parvati. She felt happier than she had ever felt before.

"You'd better get on board now," her mother said as a whistle blew shrilly. "There's only five minutes before you leave, and you need to get a seat each…" she trailed off crying.

Padma hugged everyone one more time, leaving Parvati who was crying now. She hauled her trunk off the trolley and dragged it behind her, Rama's cage held under one arm. Struggling to lift her trunk onto the carriage, she put the cage down and managed to get on board eventually. The first couple of compartments were filled with chattering pupils, but she found an empty one and dumped her things onto the floor.

"Hey, Parvati!" she said, noticing her twin passing by.

"I don't think I could have got much further!" her twin grinned, collapsing on the seat opposite her.

She was breathless and laughed rather nervously. Another whistle blew and the train began to move, the pistons hissing loudly. Padma knelt on her seat and pilled down the window, waving to her parents and grandmother who waved back, all smiling happily, although her mother had tears in her eyes. Parvati followed suit, waving madly.

"Don't forget to write as often as possible!" Surya cried out.

With another whistle blast she waved one last time then buried her face in her husband's shoulder. Padma sat down as they pulled away, but Parvati continued to wave until they had disappeared from sight. She sat down after closing the door and stared at the wall.

Padma looked around as the compartment door slid open. It was Terry Boot, the boy who she'd met in Flourish and Blott's. She hid a grin as he smiled at Parvati and sat down beside her.

"Hello again!" he said cheerfully.

Parvati glanced at Padma and raised an eyebrow.

"Do I know you?" she asked.

Terry frowned and looked confused. Padma coughed loudly and he looked over at her. She smiled at his expression as he looked from her to Parvati and back again.

"You have an identical twin?" he asked Padma.

She nodded. Parvati giggled and stretched out her legs.

"You should've seen your face," she said.

Terry stood up and sat down next to Padma instead.

"How am I meant to be able to tell you apart?"

Padma shrugged.

"Parvati usually wears her hair tied back, and I usually leave it down," she said. "But that's no guarantee. Sometimes we like to mix it up to confuse people," she added with a grin.

The twins smiled at each other. Terry looked just as confused as he had done before. Parvati opened her trunk and pulled out a copy of _Witch Weekly_, while Padma started to read a _Standard Book of Spells _again.

"So," Terry began, "how have you been since I met you?"

"Fine, thanks," Padma said. "I've just read most of the time. Every schoolbook twice through."

She grinned at him and he smiled back.

"I've only read them once through," he said, clearly pretending to sound disappointed.

Padma smiled briefly at him then turned back to her book. For a while the carriage was silent, the only sound the rushing of wind outside and the clacking of the train on the tracks. When a plump witch arrived at the compartment door with a trolley full of sweets, they were in the middle of the countryside.

"Anything off the trolley, dears?" she asked cheerfully.

Padma bought some Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans and a Liquorice Wand for Parvati, who chewed on it silently as she continued to avidly read her magazine. Opening her box of sweets, Padma pulled out a pink one and held it to her nose, sniffing at it carefully. She took a tiny nibble from one corner.

"Coconut cream," she said, relieved.

She held out the box to Terry who discovered that the one he picked was salt rather than icing sugar, swallowing it with a grimace. He began to chew on some Drooble's Best Blowing Gum and started to blow small, bluebell coloured bubbles that bobbed around the ceiling of the compartment. Padma laughed and sifted through Terry's pile of sweets, taking a Chocolate Frog.

"Do you collect the cards?" she asked, biting off the frog's head.

Terry nodded.

"What have you got?" he asked.

"Newt Scamander," Padma said, pulling out the card and handing it to him.

"I haven't got that one," he said. "Thanks!"

There was a knock on the compartment door and a girl with busy hair opened it. She scanned the compartment momentarily, eventually looking at Padma.

"Have you seen a toad?" she asked in a bossy sort of voice. They all shook their heads. "It belongs to a boy called Neville."

"Sorry," Padma said. "But if we find it, we'll tell you."

"Thank you," the girl said shortly.

She closed the door with a snap and hurried off down the corridor. Terry shook his head and unwrapped another Chocolate Frog. Padma held out the box of Bertie Bott's to Parvati.

"Do you want one?"

Parvati shook her head, smiling slightly.

"You know I haven't eaten one since that time you last gave me one," she said. "You said it was apple flavoured, but it turned out to be spinach."

Padma rolled her eyes and smiled at Parvati. They were silent for a little while longer; Padma and Parvati read while Terry sorted his new Chocolate Frog cards. Padma was thinking about the conversation they had at breakfast.

"What house do you want to be in?" she asked suddenly.

"My dad thinks it'd be a travesty if I didn't get into Ravenclaw," Terry said. "I think I'd agree. I have all of the necessary qualities."

"I'd love to be in Ravenclaw," Padma said, "but Gryffindor wouldn't be too bad, I suppose."

"Anything but Slytherin for me," Parvati said finally.

"At least we agree on something there," Padma said.

They all laughed. Padma shuddered at the thought of being in Slytherin, the house that had turned out more Dark witches and wizards that any other. Outside the train, the sun was setting and reds and purples streaked the darkening sky. The three of them fell silent. Parvati put away her magazine and looked out of the window, while Padma opened her trunk and put her book back along with the thirty or so others that she had crammed inside. Terry looked over her shoulder.

"Looks like you have a whole library in there," he said.

Padma snapped the trunk shut.

"Don't be so nosy!" she said, looking out of the window as the train seemed to slow.

"We will be arriving at Hogsmede station in five minutes," a voice echoed around the train. "Please leave your luggage on board as it will be taken up to the castle for you."

Padma pulled on her robes with trembling hand and her stomach lurched uncomfortably. Parvati was biting her lip nervously and Terry looked very pale, almost green in fact. Padma slid open the compartment door, stepping out into the corridor where people were beginning to queue up as the train slowly ground to a halt, its pistons hissing.

The three of them eventually managed to get out of the train and onto a small, crowded platform. Most of the pupils seemed to be walking off into the darkness. Padma shivered and pulled her robes tighter around her body. She noticed a lantern that bobbed in mid-air.

"Firs' years over here!" a voice cried out of the darkness. "C'mon, follow me!"

Padma gawped at the speaker. He was enormous man who towered over them, with wild hair and beady black eyes. Behind Padma, Terry swore softly. The man, who was called Hagrid, led the first years down a narrow, sloping path. Padma slipped slightly and caught hold of Parvati's sleeve, laughing nervously.

She could feel her heart thudding heavily in her chest and her mouth was dry. Everyone walked in silence, clearly feeling as nervous as she did, and they followed the lamp that bobbed ahead of them.

"Yeh'll get yer fir' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid was saying," jus' round this bend here."

Padma gasped in amazement as the school came into sight. The rest of the first years reacted in the same way. It was a vast castle with numerous towers and turrets, its lights twinkling like fireflies. Still gazing up at the castle, Padma followed the rest of the first years down to the edge of an enormous lake where numerous small boats were moored.

"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid shouted.

Padma, Parvati and Terry got into a boat with a girl with long red hair. They bobbed gently for a moment, the silence washing over them all.

"Forward!" Hagrid said clearly.

The boats began to glide silently across the lake as one. Padma sat back, watching as the vast castle came closer and closer. She felt more nervous that she had ever done before. Everyone ducked as they reached a cliff, and the light from the lanterns on the boats cast eerie shadows across the dark tunnel that they drifted down, and water dripping from the ceiling echoed loudly. Padma scrambled out of the boat and onto a pebbled shoreline.

Hagrid handed over a toad to a rather plump boy who Padma guessed was Neville. He led them up a passageway and they emerged in front of the entrance to the castle. There were huge double doors and Hagrid raised his fist and pounded on them as they swung open.

**Thanks to my two loyal reviewers monkeymouse (aka dungeonwonk) and Non-Venomous Platypus. I appreciate your constructive criticism and would love some more so that I can improve the story further. Thanks guys :)**


	4. Sorting Hat

**Chapter 4: Sorting Hat**

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," Hagrid said.

A tall witch stood on the threshold of the castle. She had black hair tied back from her face in a bun and wore emerald green robes, a black hat and glasses. She looked at the first years for a moment, as if considering something.

"Follow me," she said shortly.

Padma couldn't help but stare as they followed Professor McGonagall into the Entrance Hall. It was enormous; a huge marble staircase led upstairs, branching out to the left and right, and the ceiling was high and vaulted. Through huge doors to the right, Padma could hear the sound of hundreds of voices. She hardly heard what Professor McGonagall was saying about being Sorted into their houses; her heart was pounding loudly and the sound filled her head.

They were ushered into a small side chamber where they stood, nervous and glancing about their surroundings with apprehension.

"I will return for you in a few minutes when we are ready for you," Professor McGonagall said.

She left the chamber. As soon as she had departed, the first years broke into nervous chatter. Padma had no idea what happened in the Sorting Ceremony, and she tried to ignore the girl with the bushy hair who was muttering spells beneath her breath and a boy with red hair and freckles who was saying something about trolls. She wiped her sweating hands on her robes.

A gasp rippled through the chamber as twenty or so ghosts drifted through one of the walls, talking amongst themselves. There was a portly monk and an Elizabethan gentleman, and they greeted the first years warmly before disappearing through the other wall. Professor McGonagall appeared at the door.

"The Sorting Ceremony is about to begin," she said.

The nervous first years lined up. Padma stood behind Parvati and in front of a boy with a pale face and blonde hair. They followed Professor McGonagall out of the side chamber, across the vast Entrance Hall and into the Great Hall.

It was a huge room. There were four long tables crammed with older students who watched silently as they filed down the centre of the hallway. Their faces glowed in the light of thousands of floating candles, and here and there were dotted the pearly faces of ghosts. Padma glanced up at the ceiling momentarily, finding that it was enchanted to look like the sky outside.

She felt her knees wobbling, and it took all of her strength to stop herself from stumbling. At the front of the hall was a long table where the teachers were sitting, watching them carefully and in silence. Professor Dumbledore sat in the centre, his long white hair and beard shining in the candlelight. His eyes sparkled as he watched the first years lining up at the foot of the table.

In front of the table stood a stool with a battered and dusty wizard's hat upon it. It was frayed and patched in many places. Padma watched in amazement as it split open at a seam and began to sing a song that listed the qualities of each of the different houses; Gryffindors were brave, daring and chivalrous; Hufflepuffs just, loyal, patient and unafraid of toil; Ravenclaws had ready minds, wit and learning, and Slytherins didn't sound appealing to Padma at all.

Professor McGonagall stepped forward once the Sorting Hat had finished singing its song. She now held a long roll of parchment that trailed along the floor.

"When I call out your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be Sorted," she said.

Padma watched as each of the first years were Sorted. Terry stumbled up to the platform and crammed the hat onto his head so that it covered his eyes, quickly being Sorted into Ravenclaw. The girl with the bushy hair "Granger, Hermione," was sorted into Gryffindor and the girl Padma had shared a boat with, "McDougal, Morag", was Sorted into Ravenclaw.

"Patil, Padma."

Padma looked around and her stomach gave an uncomfortable lurch as she walked up to sit on the stool. The last thing she saw before the hat slipped over her eyes was Parvati standing in front of her, smiling warmly and giving her an encouraging wink.

"Hmm," a small voice said in Padma's ear. "Where to Sort you?" It paused for a moment and Padma felt as if something was rifling through her mind, looking for information. "Well, there's most definitely a lot of knowledge and a thirst for learning. You'd be best in Ravenclaw!"

Padma heard the hat shout out the last word and she pulled it from her head, hurrying over to the Ravenclaw table and sitting down next to Terry who shook her hand warmly. She felt as though a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

"Patil, Parvati."

Her twin sister walked up to the stool and sat down, putting the Sorting Hat on her head. Padma watched, her heart thudding loudly in her chest, as Parvati sat for at least a minute on the stool. Padma thought about what her grandmother had said that morning about them being two very different people, and she wasn't really surprised when the Sorting Hat cried out,

"Gryffindor!"

Padma clapped loudly, watching as her twin sister walked over to the Gryffindor table and sat down next to a girl with brown hair. Terry gave her an apologetic look. Parvati craned her neck and spotted Padma, waving and smiling slightly. They both knew that they had been Sorted into the right houses. Terry started to say that it was a shame they weren't in the same house, but he was cut off as Professor McGonagall said,

"Potter, Harry."

A murmur of chatter rippled throughout the Great Hall. Padma looked up to the platform as a boy with a thin face, messy black hair and glasses got up to sit on the stool.

"Is _that _Harry Potter?" Terry asked in disbelief.

"It must be," Padma whispered.

She watched as Professor McGonagall put the Sorting Hat onto Harry Potter's head. It slipped over his eyes. Padma wondered how he could possibly be the Boy Who Lived. Her parents had told her and Parvati about him; after all, the story of his defeat of You-Know-Who as a baby was legend. But he didn't look anything special.

Across the Ravenclaw table, a girl with brown hair in a ponytail who Padma was sure was called Mandy Brocklehurst, had her eyes closed and fingers crossed.

"Be in Ravenclaw, be in Ravenclaw," she muttered under her breath over and over.

The whole of the Great Hall was on the edge of their seats, and the air was filled with anticipation. Padma found herself crossing her fingers as well and she watched intently as the Sorting Hat cried out,

"Gryffindor!"

The Gryffindor table burst into rapturous applause, cheering and whistling. A set of twins with red hair stood up and cried,

"We've got Potter! We've got Potter!"

All of the Gryffindors were trying to pat Harry on the back or shake his hand as he sat down, looking rather overwhelmed by it all. Mandy looked crestfallen, but Padma was grateful that he wasn't in Slytherin. An older girl patted Mandy on the shoulder in a reassuring way.

"The second best house in Hogwarts isn't bad," she said with a grin.

Mandy looked a little happier at this comment. Padma nodded in agreement and looked up to the front of the hall where Lisa Turpin, the girl from the second hand bookshop, was Sorted into Ravenclaw. She sat down beside Padma, looking rather pale.

"It's horrible up there," she said in a whisper. "You feel like everyone is watching you."

"They were," Terry said.

Before Lisa could say anything in reply, Professor Dumbledore stood up as Professor McGonagall took away the stool and the Sorting Hat. He was a tall man who had a definite air of authority.

"Welcome!" he said clearly. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!"

Padma grinned. Many of the pupils in the hall cheered at the top of their voices. When food suddenly appeared up and down the tables, another round of applause filled the Great Hall before the students began to pile their plates with food and talk loudly about their holidays.

Terry shovelled mashed potato into his mouth with gusto as Padma chewed on a piece of quiche, frowning slightly at him. Lisa turned in her seat.

"So, how was the rest of your summer?"

"Good," Padma said. "I managed to read all of the textbooks through twice and…"

"Show off!" Terry interrupted through a mouthful of mashed potato.

Across the table, Mandy straightened in her seat.

"I read through them three times," she said.

"It's not a bloody competition!" the boy next to her said. "I'm Kevin Entwhistle, by the way," he added.

He had light brown hair and a long thin nose. As he ate, he slid his glasses back up his nose.

"So, what are you looking forward to studying?" he asked. "I can't wait to start Transfiguration. I've loved it ever since I accidentally turned my little sister's teddy into a snake with my Mum's wand."

Padma laughed and drank some pumpkin juice.

"I'm looking forward to History of Magic," she said. "But I wish we were doing Ancient Runes."

"Not until third year," an older girl said. She had curly black hair and a warm smile. "I'm Penelope Clearwater; fifth year Prefect. So if you ever want any help, just come and ask me."

The first year Ravenclaws nodded and Penelope turned back to talk to some older students.

"I want to do Charms most of all," Mandy said cheerfully.

"Transfiguration for me," Lisa added.

They were silent for a while, just eating and drinking. Padma was happy just to be at Hogwarts at last. Once the plates were clear, dessert appeared on the table and she helped herself to strawberries and cream. The conversation eventually turned to their parents.

"I'm half and half," Kevin explained. "My mum's a witch and my dad's a Muggle. He's always known, so they've lived like any other wizards since they got married."

"My mum and dad are both magical," Morag said. She paused to eat some cheesecake "Mum's in the Ministry of Magic in Department of Magical Sports and Games. Dad's in Gringotts. He's Head of Security."

Padma nodded.

"My dad works in the Ministry as well, and my mum's at St Mungos."

"So is my mum!" Lisa said, looking surprised. "She's on Potion and Plant Poisoning."

Padma smiled. This was a ridiculous coincidence and she wanted to laugh out loud.

"Same with mine," she said. "Mum's a specialist on the affects of plants. Herbology was always her best subject at school."

"They probably know each other," Lisa said. "My mum does exactly the same job as yours!"

Padma and Lisa continued to talk about their mothers. Terry and Kevin were arguing about whose Quidditch team was the best; Terry supported Puddlemere United and Kevin the Tutshill Tornadoes. Mandy was talking to a Chinese girl with long black hair and dark eyes about Charms and her thoughts on levitation spell theory.

Padma yawned. She felt warm and sleepy. Suddenly, all of the food disappeared, much to Kevin's disappointment as he'd been about to bite into a slice of chocolate cake. Instead, he bit into thin air. They all listened half-heartedly as Professor Dumbledore rattled off a long list of notices, including the fact that the Forest was out of bounds, Quidditch tryouts would take place in two weeks, and that there was a list of forbidden items on the door of the caretaker's office.

Terry stifled a yawn as Dumbledore conducted the school song. Padma mumbled the words under her breath, but made no attempt to sing. Professor Dumbledore stood up and smiled at the pupils.

"Of you trot!" he cried cheerfully.

The pupils got up from the chairs and started to flood out of the huge doors, their happy voices rising up to the ceiling.

"First year Ravenclaws!" shouted a tall boy over the din. He waved them over. "I'm Edward Marshall, one of your sixth year Prefects. If you'd follow me, I'll take you up to the Ravenclaw Common Room."

The ten first years followed the Prefect, joining the throngs of students who were moving up the marble staircase and heading for the floors above. Padma's legs were aching as they climbed flight after flight of stairs, through hidden doors and down winding corridors. Behind her, Lisa was red in the face and breathless.

As they reached the top of another staircase, they found themselves in a small open area with long windows on both sides, and two long tapestries from floor to ceiling on either side of a bronze statue of an eagle. It sat upon an elaborate stone shelf and seemed to watch the Ravenclaws with unblinking eyes. Edward grinned at them all, watching as Terry leant up against the wall.

The Prefect stepped up to the eagle. Its bronze eyes moved, fixing on his face.

"Aquilas," Edward said clearly.

The shelf and wall swung backwards as if on hinges, revealing a small passageway.

"We change the password every week," the Prefect explained. "As Ravenclaws, we like to use interesting words to broaden our vocabularies."

Padma and the other first years laughed.

"And this is the Ravenclaw Common Room," Edward said.

He led them through the small passage and into a room that took Padma's breath away. She suddenly felt much more awake. The Common Room was enormous with a high vaulted ceiling and tall windows overlooking the countryside. Opposite the entrance was a wide stone fireplace with a long window on either side, and there was a table down the centre of the room piled with books, lamps and rolls of parchment. There were numerous blue chairs and sofas, but what caught Padma's attention were the books.

The entire Common Room was filled with bookshelves that ran about the room, almost reaching up to the ceiling. They were crammed with thousands of books and tall ladders on wheels reached up to the highest shelves. There were even books piled on the window seats.

"It's amazing!" Padma whispered to Terry.

He nodded mutely in agreement, his eyes wide with wonder. Edward gestured to two doorways, one on either side of the Common Room.

"Girls' dormitories are to the right and boys' to the left," he said. "Would you take the girls upstairs for me, Penelope?"

The fifth year Prefect was sitting in a high backed chair and nodded, standing up with a book under one arm. She beckoned for the girls to follow her. They followed her up a flight of stairs that reached a door with _Seventh Year Girls _written on a plaque, and then turned up onto a spiral staircase. Passing five other doors, they eventually reached the very top of the tower, the plaque on the door reading _First Year Girls_. Lisa leant against the wall, catching her breath.

"Sorry about the climb," Penelope said apologetically, "but this is going to be your dorm for the next seven years, so you'll have to get used to it."

She pushed open the door and the five girls swarmed inside. The dormitory was rectangular and fairly large, with five four-poster beds with blue velvet drapes. There were two long windows to the left, allowing moonlight to stream into the room, and a couple of bookshelves that were empty at the moment. Each bed had a table beside them with a chair, and in the centre of the room was a cast iron burner. There were tapestries of a bronze eagle on a blue background, as well as rugs on the stone floor. Mandy smiled.

"It's beautiful," she said in a voice barely over a whisper.

Penelope nodded.

"You'd best get to bed now," she said kindly. "You need to be up by seven tomorrow for breakfast. If you need me, I'm on the third floor. Goodnight," she added with a smile.

Padma spotted her trunk at the far end of the room. It was at the foot of a bed next to one of the windows, and she hurried over, beginning to rummage around looking around for her pyjamas. While she looked, she piled all of her books onto her bed, eventually finding her pyjamas underneath her copy of _Moste Ancient Magicke of Asia_. The Chinese girl sat on the bed opposite her, smiling.

"I'm Su Li," she said.

"Padma Patil." She started to put her books into one of the bookshelves.

"How many books do you have?" Su Li asked curiously.

"Not that many really," Padma said. "It's not even a tenth of what I have at home!"

Over on her bed next to Padma's, Lisa snorted with laughter.

"I can believe that!"

She had to duck as Padma threw a pillow at her head. Mandy, who was now dressed in a striped night-dress, started to pin a poster of the Weird Sisters over her desk. Her tabby cat curled around her ankles.

"I'm really excited to be here," she said with a grin on her face.

Everyone agreed with nodding heads. A silence fell over the room as everyone got ready, unpacking their trunks and getting changed.

"What's your cat called?" Morag asked Mandy in a soft Scottish accent.

"Sorrel," she replied.

The uneasy silence broke and the girls started to chat excitedly about their lives to one another. Padma smiled at the comfortable chatter, crawling into her new bed and pulling the blue covers up to her chin. She looked up at the canopy above her and drifted off to sleep, lulled by the conversation of her new dorm mates.


	5. Fights and Jinxes

**Chapter 5: Fights and Jinxes**

The first couple of weeks flew past for Padma. Any of the problems that she thought she would have making friends, there were none. The Ravenclaw first years got on well enough with one another. Padma spent most of her time with Terry and Lisa, who were quickly becoming her best friends.

She found the lessons at Hogwarts fascinating, and she spent every lesson taking detailed notes and then in the evenings she would do more reading on the subjects to add to her notes. When Lisa said that she was doing far too much work, she just laughed and insisted that she was enjoying herself. Nevertheless, she eased off the work a little, just to be careful.

One Wednesday morning, Padma sat at the Ravenclaw table eating her breakfast. She was reading _A History of Magic _for the fifth time, and it was propped up against a jug of pumpkin juice.

"What lessons do we have today?" Terry asked.

He sprayed toast crumbs across the table as he spoke. Padma dusted them from her robes and smiled at him.

"History of Magic, Transfiguration and," she added with a grimace, "double Herbology with the Slytherins."

Morag pulled a face.

"I hate the Slytherins," she said venomously.

"Binns isn't much better," Michael Corner, a dark haired first year, commented.

Padma looked outraged and looked up from her book.

"He may be a ghost, but he's not that bad!" she said. "He's…"

Her rant was interrupted by the arrival of the post owls. Padma looked up, trying to spot Rama fluttering down from the ceiling. She was disappointed that she didn't receive any post, but was crestfallen when she saw Parvati's tawny owl drop a large parcel into her lap. Padma looked down at her bowl of cereal, sniffing back tears.

"What's up?" Lisa asked.

"Nothing," Padma said, trying to stop the tremor in her voice.

Across the table, Terry was opening a package from his parents. He pulled out a box of Chocolate Frogs and a large chocolate cake.

"Have some of this," Terry said. He held out a slice of chocolate cake to Padma. "It always manages to cheer me up. Eat it."

Padma looked up. Terry smiled encouragingly at her and she smiled back, taking the cake from him. It was rich and moist, and she ate it slowly, glancing over to the Gryffindor table. Parvati pulled a couple of gold bangles out of the parcel and showed them to one of her classmates, smiling broadly.

Padma swallowed the mouthful of cake and put the rest of it to one side; she knew that the present was from their grandmother, and she couldn't help but feel like she hated her.

Terry snatched the cake back from her, looking shocked.

"If you didn't want it, you should have said!" he said, pretending to sound offended. He stuffed the cake into his mouth. "Don't worry about it. Whatever you're worrying about, that is."

Padma couldn't help but smile. She watched as Anthony Goldstein poked at a photograph of Su Li's parents, trying to make the figures move.

"They don't move, Anthony!" Su Li said shrilly. She pointed her wand at his nose, waving it threateningly. "If you get any more bacon grease on there, I'll hex your nose off!"

Anthony looked terrified and put his hands over his nose. Lisa gathered up her bag.

"We'd better get going to History of Magic," she said.

Padma packed away her book and glanced back over at the Gryffindor table one last time; Parvati was laughing and joking with her housemates. The ten Ravenclaw first years walked to the History of Magic classroom. It was a dull, musty room with a couple of rows of desks in it. At the front was a blackboard and a desk piled high with old quills, rolls of parchment and books that hadn't been opened for years.

Dropping her bag to the floor, Padma sat down at the front of the class and spread her things over the desk. She unfurled a roll of parchment and found her eagle feather quill at the bottom of her bag.

"Don't be so eager, Padma!" Michael said loudly from the back of the class.

He threw a box of Drooble's Best Blowing Gum at her head. She ducked quickly. Michael yelped as the box passed through Professor Binns' head as he drifted through the blackboard. The ghost professor frowned at him.

"Pick that up and get out your textbook, Mister Corner," he said in a monotone voice.

Michael quickly retrieved the box and scurried back to his seat. Padma was happy to see that his face was burning red.

"Now," Professor Binns said, drifting through his desk, "in the early fifteenth century, goblin revolts were at their height. Ulrich the Ugly was…"

Padma started to take incredibly detailed notes, jotting down everything that Professor Binns said. The lesson seemed to fly by for her, but near the end she turned in her seat to see how the rest of the Ravenclaws were doing. Most were making notes and listening attentively to Binns, but Stephen Cornfoot and Kevin weren't paying attention; Stephen was doodling on a piece of parchment and Kevin had his head on the table, snoring.

"Homework for next lesson," Professor Binns droned. "Two scrolls on the reasons for the goblins' grievances and the Council's attempts to put down the rising."

Professor Binns turned and drifted back through the wall. Padma jotted the homework title down on the top of a fresh roll of parchment and stowed it in her bag. She gathered up her notes, turning as someone cleared their throat behind her. Stephen, who was a gangling boy with curly brown hair, stood side by side with Kevin, both of them looking hopeful.

"Can I help you?" she asked, glancing from one to the other.

"That's what we were hoping," Kevin said.

"You see," Stephen continued, "we missed some of what Binns said in the lesson."

"And we were wondering if we could borrow your notes," Kevin concluded.

Padma pulled her bag onto her shoulder, holding her notes in one hand.

"You mean that you want to copy my notes," she said. Kevin and Stephen nodded enthusiastically. "And that's because you weren't paying attention." They nodded again. "Alright," she said finally, "but only if you give me some help with my Herbology homework when we get it."

"Deal!" Kevin said. He shook her hand and snatched the notes from her.

Padma rolled her eyes as the two boys argued over who would have her notes first. She hurried out of the class, looking for Lisa and Terry. She found them outside in the courtyard, chatting merrily to Mandy. Lisa waved at her and she walked over.

"Where've you been?" she asked.

"I lent Kevin and Stephen my notes from Binns' lesson," she said. "Last time I saw them, they were fighting over who would have them first."

As they spoke, Mandy was stretching up on her toes, straining to see across the courtyard. Padma glanced over in the general direction. All she saw was a couple of boys in a small group.

"What're you looking at?"

Mandy pushed Terry out of the way, attempting to get a better view.

"Harry Potter of course!" Mandy said, sounding shocked.

"Of course," Terry said sarcastically. He paused for a moment then added, "He's nothing special you know, Mandy."

Mandy looked shocked and glared at Terry.

"He only vanquished You-Know-Who, if you'd forgotten Terry!" she said. "Of course, that's nothing in comparison to what you've done! Brushing you hair is an absolute miracle!" she added as sarcastically.

Terry blushed and ignored Mandy, offering Padma a Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Bean. She took a red one and popped it in her mouth. She promptly spat it out.

"Horseradish!" Padma said in disgust.

"Hey, Padma. I need to talk to you."

Parvati trotted across the courtyard, her long braid bobbing behind her. She was accompanied by one of her Gryffindor friends who had brown hair. Parvati hugged her twin sister tightly.

"Padma, this is Lavender Brown," she said, introducing her friend.

"Hi," Padma said shortly.

Lavender smiled warmly. At the same time, Mandy sighed; clearly Harry Potter had gone elsewhere. Parvati pulled an opened envelope from her robes.

"This is from grandmother," she explained to her sister. "She wants to know what we want for our birthday."

Padma frowned at her twin, feeling annoyed.

"Why did she write to you and not me?" she asked snappily.

Parvati shrugged.

"I don't know." She looked carefully at her sister. "So what do you want me to tell her?"

"Surprise me," Padma said bitterly.

She watched Parvati's expression carefully; her twin sister stared at her in surprise, stuffed the envelope back into her robes and took Lavender's arm.

"Fine," she said. "Come on, Lavender. We don't want to be late for our lesson."

Parvati steered Lavender across the courtyard, pausing at the doorway to glance at Padma before storming inside. Padma folded her arms across her chest and sighed. She hated it when the two of them fought. It didn't happen that often, but when it did, they tended to be snippy to each other for quite a while afterwards.

Terry, Lisa and Mandy stood in silence. They seemed to be unable to work out what to say. Padma pulled her bag higher on her shoulder.

"I'm going to Transfiguration," she said.

Without another word, she hurried off without the others. She didn't go to the Transfiguration class, though. Instead, she headed for the girls' toilets with tears rolling down her cheeks. She opened the door and pushed past a fourth year Gryffindor, locking herself in one of the stalls.

She wept silently. She couldn't believe how her grandmother could disapprove of her so much, or that she could love Parvati so much more than her. It had been the same all of their lives and she'd got used to it. But it didn't stop it from hurting her.

Padma looked up as she heard footsteps. Someone knocked on the door and she sniffed loudly, wiping the tears from her face.

"Are you alright, Padma?"

Padma unlocked to the door, allowing Lisa to step inside the stall. She had a sympathetic expression on her face, and when Padma stood up, her lip trembling, she hugged her tightly. Padma cried into her shoulder.

"What's wrong?" Lisa asked her.

"It's just my grandmother," Padma explained. She pulled away from Lisa and led her out of the stall. "She's always put me down and compared me to Parvati; saying that I should be more interested in traditional Indian magic like her, that I shouldn't read so much. It's horrible and makes me feel so small."

Padma sat down on the stone floor, crossing her legs. Lisa followed suit, nodding knowingly and smiling at Padma.

"Your grandmother's just being like she is," Lisa said. "As we get older, we become set in her ways. If she thought like that when she was living in India, it's clear that she'll think like that now."

Padma nodded.

"Thanks Lisa," she said.

Lisa helped her to her feet.

"Come on," she said, "I know what'll cheer you up."

"Don't we have to go back to Transfiguration?"

"No," Lisa said, shaking her head. "I spoke to Professor McGonagall. Terry's taking notes for us, so we have an hour before lunch to do what we want."

"Are we going to the Library?" Padma asked with a grin.

Lisa nodded.

"I knew that would cheer you up."

The two Ravenclaws left the toilets and headed to the Library. Aside from the Common Room, this was Padma's favourite place in Hogwarts. There were hundreds of thousands of books in tall bookshelves with ladders allowing pupils to reach the higher shelves. At the back of the Library was the Restricted Section which only the oldest students were able to use, and even then, certain books were chained to the shelves. Long tables ran down the middle of some of the wider aisles, allowing students to work in silence.

Padma and Lisa entered the Library. It was quiet, the only sound muted whisperings, turning pages or scratching quills. They passed Madam Pince, the strict librarian who was immensely protective of her books.

"I have some Potions homework to do," Lisa said. "I'll meet you here at lunch."

She disappeared around one of the bookshelves. Padma glanced around her; there was a small group of Hufflepuffs working on a nearby table and a solitary Slytherin read a thick book, brow furrowed in concentration. She headed over to the section that held the History of Magic books, browsing through them.

Sitting down to read a copy of _The Origins of Magic_, Padma looked around as there was a clattering of chairs and yelps of pain. She saw that two second years were being chased from the Library by a furious looking Madam Pince.

"No eating in the Library!" she cried shrilly.

She was brandishing her wand and sending the boys' books flying at their heads, along with several boxes of Chocolate Frogs.

"Out, out, out!" Madam Pince shouted.

Padma laughed quietly and turned back to read in silence. After a while, she got up to get a copy of _Fifteenth Century Goblin Rebellions_ and set about doing her homework for Professor Binns. In the end she'd managed to write three scrolls in her small, neat handwriting and waited for them to dry before rolling them up and putting them into her bag as the bell rang for lunch.

She hurried over to the door where Lisa was waiting.

"How did your Potions homework go?" she asked as they headed down to the Great Hall.

"I had a blast writing two scrolls on the properties of wolfsbane," Lisa said sarcastically. She rubbed her hand. "I got cramp because of Snape. I hate him."

"I don't think anyone likes him," Padma said with a laugh.

They joined the crowds flooding down to the Great Hall and headed over to the Ravenclaw table. Padma sat down next to Terry who pulled sheets of parchment from his bag, handing them to Lisa.

"That's the lessons notes and homework," he said. "You'd better be grateful for that."

"Thanks for doing that, Terry," Padma said.

Lisa flicked through the parchment, glaring at Terry.

"You should have written more than this!" she said irritably, shoving them into her bag.

"That's gratitude for you!" Terry said bitterly.

After that, he ate his shepherd's pie in silence as Lisa ignored him. Padma ate little; she still felt bad about the argument with Parvati. Mandy was chatting to Su Li about the latest Weird Sister's song, and Morag and Kevin were swapping Chocolate Frog cards.

"I'm going down to Herbology," Padma said.

"I'll come with you," Terry said, grabbing his bag.

The two of them walked down to the greenhouses. Outside it was overcast and a bitter wind blew around the side of the castle. Terry scuffed his shoes against the grass as they walked.

"So," he started quietly, "are you okay then. After the argument with your sister, I mean."

"I've been better," Padma said, smiling at him. "But thanks for asking."

Terry nodded and fell silent again. He moaned as he spotted several figures at the door of the greenhouses. Four Slytherins stood there, watching Padma and Terry come towards them. Padma recognised them; Draco Malfoy, the boy she had stood in front of in the Sorting Ceremony, was flanked by Crabbe and Goyle and accompanied by the pug-faced Pansy Parkinson.

"What're you looking at, Patil?" Pansy asked. She cracked her knuckles threateningly. "Same goes for you, Boot."

"Shut up, Pansy," Padma snapped.

"What're you going to do about it?" Pansy grunted.

Pansy stepped forwards. She was a lot larger than Padma and glared menacingly at her, but she stopped as Professor Sprout hurried over, holding her hat down with one hand.

"Inside Greenhouse One, please," she said briskly, "before we all get blown away."

Padma hurried inside, avoiding looking at the Slytherin girl. She headed for the back of the greenhouse and sat down, stowing her bag under the desk. Pansy gave her a menacing look before she sat down beside Malfoy.

Terry waved the rest of the Ravenclaws over. They all looked very windswept, and Lisa's hair was all over her face. The greenhouse was hot and humid, filled with plants of all types. Vines and creepers wound about the pipes carrying water, and huge leaves blotted out some of the sunlight. Plants were everywhere; in huge pots, growing out from between the flagstone floor and creeping around one another.

Professor Sprout tapped her trowel against a plant pot.

"Attention class!" she said shrilly. "Take your places. Now, today we're going to be learning about Devil's Snare! Can anyone tell me something about it?"

Along the bench from Padma, Kevin raised his hand.

"Devil's Snare has tendrils that will ensnare any creature that touches it," he explained. "The more a victim struggles, the quicker they will be killed."

"Well done, Mr Entwhistle," Professor Sprout said. "Ten points for Ravenclaw."

The Ravenclaws smiled at Kevin, causing him to blush.

"Can anyone else tell me any more properties?"

Padma raised her hand slowly.

"It prefers a dark and damp environment," she said. "So, if you happen to be caught by one, fire is the only way to force it to release you."

"Good, Miss Patil," Professor Sprout said, "another ten points for Ravenclaw."

At the front of the greenhouse, Pansy turned around in her seat and pulled a face, mouthing something that looked like 'show off' to Padma.

"Now, I'd like you to turn to page fifty three of your books," Professor Sprout continued. "You will copy down the information on Devil's Snare and then I will show you a young specimen of the plant."

After they had done that, Professor Sprout brought out a small plant in a pot. It was a dark green with long, trailing tendrils. She put it down on the desk before her.

"Now," she said, "make careful note of how the Devil's Snare, even in its early life, reacts to touch."

The Herbology professor took a piece of cane and prodded the Devil's Snare with it. At once, the tendrils snaked around the cane, tightening so much that it started to crack and splinter. Professor Sprout pulled out her wand and waved it, muttering a spell. Flames burst from the tip and the small plant cowered away from them, unravelling from the cane.

"There you go," Professor Sprout said. "We'll continue with that next lesson. Homework is to find out any famous instances of Devil's Snare being used."

When she was gathering up her things, Padma knocked her parchment to the floor. She knelt down to pick them up.

"I'll see you back in the Common Room," she said to Lisa.

She was putting the parchment into her bag when she heard footsteps behind her. Padma looked around, finding Pansy Parkinson towering over her and sneering.

"Let me give you a hand," she said.

Pansy picked up Padma's bag and threw it across the greenhouse to Malfoy. Padma stood up, glaring at the Slytherin girl.

"What did you do that for?" she demanded, storming over to get her bag.

Crabbe and Goyle blocked her way. Behind them, Malfoy had hold her bag and was smirking. Pansy shrugged.

"I felt like it," the Slytherin said icily.

She walked over to Padma who was trapped between her and Crabbe and Goyle. Padma pulled out her wand from her robes, pointing it at Pansy's chest. Fear filled her and her heart was pounding in her chest.

"Leave me alone," she said, trying to stop her voice from trembling. "Or I'll…"

"You'll what?" Pansy mocked, clenching her hands into fists. "Cry all over me?"

Padma desperately searched her mind for a spell, anything that she had read over the past month or so. Suddenly it came to her and she hoped that it would work.

"Petrificus Totallus!"

She heard another voice cry the same spell and watched as both Pansy and Malfoy's arms and legs snapped together. They stood balanced for a moment and then fell to the ground with two large thuds. Padma still had her wand raised. She watched as Crabbe and Goyle glanced at her before grabbing the two petrified Slytherins and dragging them up to the castle.

"Are you alright?"

Terry stood at the greenhouse door, putting his wand back into his bag. Padma felt as though she could breathe again and lowered her wand.

"Yeah," she said, "I guess I am."

"I think you had the situation handled well enough," Terry said, handing Padma her bag, "but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to jinx Malfoy."

Padma smiled and they walked up to the castle together. She had the feeling that life at Hogwarts was only going to get more interesting.


	6. Halloween

**Chapter 6: Halloween**

Soon enough, Halloween came to Hogwarts castle. On the morning, the hallways were filled with the scent of baking pumpkin and everyone seemed to be talking twice as loud as usual. Padma sat at the Ravenclaw table at breakfast, eating a slice of toast. She watched as Hagrid carried an enormous pumpkin up to the teachers' table.

"Potions and Charms today," Mandy said, not looking up from her copy of the _Daily Prophet_.

Lisa rolled her eyes and groaned. She still hadn't forgiven the Potions master for causing her cramp doing his homework.

"I hate Snape," she said venomously.

Terry nodded in agreement.

"Did you hear the rumour about Harry Potter?" he asked.

At the mention of the Boy Who Lived, Mandy looked up from the newspaper.

"What's the rumour?" she asked eagerly.

"That he's got onto the Gryffindor Quidditch team," Terry said. "According to _Hogwarts: A History_ he's the only first year to play for a house team in a hundred years."

Mandy looked terrified and stretched up in her seat. She strained to get a better look at the Gryffindor table, checking that Harry hadn't been beaten to a pulp by a Bludger.

"But it's such a dangerous game!"

"We know," Terry said slowly and deliberately, "that's why it's the most popular game in the wizarding world."

Mandy rolled her eyes and folded up the _Daily Prophet_, stuffing it into her bag. She stormed off to Potions. Padma got up from her seat.

"We'd better get going," she said. "Snape'll kill us if we're late."

They had Potions with the Hufflepuffs. In Snape's dungeon classroom it was bitterly cold. When she entered the room, Padma's breath clouded before her face. She rubbed her hands together and sat down next to Lisa at the back of the class.

As soon as Professor Snape entered the classroom all conversation stopped. He strode up to the blackboard, black robes billowing around him as he moved. He looked around the students. His eyes were dark and cold.

"Today we are going to brew a simple Cheering Draught," he said. "Copy the instructions from the blackboard," he tapped the blackboard with his wand and writing appeared on it, "and then set about creating the potion."

Padma lit a fire underneath her cauldron with a poke of her wand. After copying down the instructions, she set about preparing the ingredients, finely shredding a bat's wing. The class worked in silence. Padma was very aware of Snape watching them all carefully as they prepared the potion.

Suddenly there was a large explosion at the front of the class, on the side where the Hufflepuffs were working. Padma had ducked down behind her desk at the blast and now peered up over the edge, glancing around and finding many of the students doing the same thing.

Hannah Abbott, a plump blonde Hufflepuff, was covered from head to toe in yellow potion that dripped from her robes and pooled around her feet. The boy working next to her, Justin Finch-Fletchley, had managed to avoid most of the potion by cowering behind his bag. Snape stormed over, pulling out his wand.

"Scourgify!"

Now everyone could see that Hannah and anyone else who had been hit by the potion had broken out in a nasty yellow rash. Some of the Hufflepuffs had patches of yellow here and there, but every visible part of Hannah's skin was yellow and blotchy. Padma put her hand over her mouth. Next to her, Lisa was trying hard not to laugh, her shoulders shaking.

"You stupid girl!" Snape said icily. "You forgot to add the horsetail before the daisy roots, didn't you?" Hannah nodded dumbly. "Get up to the hospital wing, Miss Abbott; you and anyone else who's come out in a rash."

Hannah gathered up her bag and hurried out of the dungeon, tears in her eyes. She was followed by a handful of Hufflepuffs who'd been sitting near her.

"Don't pay attention to them!" Snape snapped. "Get on with your work!"

The rest of the class carried on working in silence. It came to the end of the lesson and Padma stirred her potion, watching as green fumes drifted from the surface.

"We'll see if you've done this right, unlike Miss Abbott," Snape said. "You will take some of the potion; not too much, though, or you may become hysterical. It should be a green colour." He paused, looking around at the class. "Come on, then."

Across the classroom, Terry was looking worried. He held up a vial full of potion and looked at it with concern; instead of being green it was a dark, muddy brown. Padma poured a little into a vial and swallowed it, pulling a face at the taste.

Soon enough, the entire class was filled with the sound of laughter. Padma laughed heartily for a couple of minutes and eventually stopped, looking around at how her friends were faring. Lisa only laughed for a little longer than her, but Terry was laughing so hard that he had tears pouring down his cheeks. He was in a better state than Michael, who was laughing at everything in sight. He clutched his ribs and was hardly able to breathe.

"I see you two managed to get it dreadfully wrong," Snape said, swooping over to them and pulling a vial of purple liquid from his robes. He gave them some. "The antidote should work in five minutes or so. Seems that Ravenclaws aren't all that intelligent," he added with a sneer.

Snape walked into his office, slamming the door closed behind him. Anthony and Kevin had to drag Terry and Michael from the dungeon; they were both giggling hysterically at a pickled frog in a jar. The Ravenclaws headed straight to the Charms classroom.

By the time they reached the room, Terry had stopped laughing and was rubbing his ribs.

"I've never laughed so hard in my life," he said, slumping down in his seat.

"It's your own fault," Padma said, sitting beside him.

"If you're so clever," Terry snapped, "you tell me what I did wrong."

Padma smiled triumphantly.

"You forgot to add the bindweed," she said.

Terry made an annoyed sound and folded his arms over his chest, glaring at Padma. Tiny Professor Flitwick walked into the classroom, smiling cheerily at them. He was their Head of House but refused to treat them favourably in any way, unless he was sure it was for the right reason. He clambered up onto the pile of books on top of his chair.

"Good morning, class," he said brightly. "Now, today we're going to continue our work on Levitation Charms. Last lesson we learnt the incantation and wand movement, so now we're going to put it into practice."

He looked around them, gesturing to the feathers that were on the desks.

"Mr Entwhistle," he said, smiling at Kevin, "if you would be so kind."

Kevin pulled out his wand and rolled up his sleeves. He cleared his throat.

"Wingardium Leviosa!"

He waved his wand. Instead of his feather floating up into the air, Kevin sent his ink bottle flying across the room. It narrowly missed Professor Flitwick's head and smashed against the blackboard. Kevin sat down, blushing furiously. Everyone laughed.

"That's enough," Professor Flitwick squeaked. "The incantation was fine, Mr Entwhistle, but you need to remember the wand movement; swish and flick. I'd like you all to try now."

The classroom was filled with cries of the spell. Padma retrieved her wand from her bag.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" she cried, tapping the feather and waving her wand.

The feather in front of her twitched for a moment, and then floated up into the air. Padma smiled, continuing to concentrate and keep the feather floating. Next to her, Terry managed to do the spell correctly and his feather floated up next to hers.

"Well done Miss Patil, Mr Boot!" Professor Flitwick said, smiling. "You can work on heavier objects for the rest of the lesson. Miss McDougal, swish and flick, don't jab your wand or you'll end up levitating something else."

Padma laughed as a textbook flew across the room, hitting Professor Flitwick in the stomach and knocking him off his feet.

"Watch this," Terry said. "Wingardium Leviosa!"

He tapped his bag. Slowly and steadily, it began to rise up off the floor until it floated at desk height. Terry grinned at Padma.

"Beat that," he said.

Padma rolled her eyes.

"You're pathetic," she said, but she pointed her wand at a spare chair at the front of the classroom. "Wingardium Leviosa!"

The chair floated up off the floor. Padma made it float over to her desk and set it down in front of her. Terry lowered his bag onto the chair.

"Let's call it a draw," he said with a smile.

"Deal," Padma said. "Nobody likes a show-off, after all."

They talked for the rest of the lesson and played noughts and crosses on the corner of Terry's parchment. The only other incident was that Michael managed to set Professor Flitwick's hat on fire and the tiny Charms teacher had to dunk his head into a fire bucket.

"Your homework is to write one scroll on uses of the levitation spell!" Professor Flitwick cried over the noise at the end of the lesson. "And don't forget to practice!"

They headed down to the Great Hall for lunch. They had that afternoon free and went up to the Common Room, spending their free time doing some more work while Terry and Anthony played wizard chess by the fire.

At dinner, the Ravenclaws headed downstairs for the Halloween Feast. Padma stared wide-eyed at the decorations that had been put up over the afternoon. Pumpkins with candles inside floated in the air above the house tables, live bats swooped around the ceiling and excited chatter filled the room.

Padma sat down as the feast appeared on golden plates. The Ravenclaws chatted enthusiastically, eating warm stews and steaming pies. Padma glanced across the table to Terry and Kevin who were having a competition to see how many sausage rolls they could cram into their mouths.

Everyone in the hall turned in their seats as Professor Quirrell, the stuttering Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, bolted down the middle of the tables. All of the students fell silent. Quirrell's face was filled with terror, his eyes were wide and his turban was askew on his head. Padma watched as he reached Professor Dumbledore's seat. He clung onto the wizard's sleeve, mouthing silently for a moment.

"Troll in the dungeon," he managed to say eventually, "thought you ought to know."

He collapsed onto the floor. It was suddenly as though the volume had been turned up in the Great Hall. Everyone seemed to be shouting and screaming. Terry and Kevin sprayed sausage rolls across the table, while Mandy was screaming at the top of her voice.

"We're all going to die! We're all going to die!"

Padma felt numb; she didn't know what was going on, and she just stared at Professor Quirrell's unconscious body. Dumbledore got to his feet, raising his wand and firing purple firecrackers from the tip. The Great Hall fell silent and several people stopped getting up from their seats, hovering midway.

"Prefects, lead your houses back to the dormitories immediately!" Dumbledore cried.

Edward, Penelope and the other Ravenclaw Prefects quickly got to work. They split the pupils into year groups and began escorting them up to the Common Room.

"First years, follow me!" Penelope said. She stood up straight and waved them over. "Come on now. Keep close to me!"

As they hurried up the marble staircase, Padma looked up at Penelope. The older girl was clearly trying to remain calm for their benefit, but fear shone in her eyes and her hand was in the pocket of her robes, gripped tightly around her wand. She ushered them all into the Common Room where Professor Flitwick was standing on a table.

Padma pushed her way through the crowds of Ravenclaws who gathered around their Head of House.

"We must all remain calm!" Professor Flitwick cried. "At this very moment, Professor Dumbledore and other members of the teaching staff have gone in search of the beast."

"How could it get into the castle, Professor?" a fourth year asked.

"I truly don't know," Professor Flitwick said. "But I advise you to remain in the Common Room. I ask the Prefects to watch over you and you will obey them as if they were me. Understand?"

The Ravenclaws nodded silently. Professor Flitwick jumped down from the table and drew his wand before leaving to help with the search for the troll. As soon as the door of the Common Room shut, the Ravenclaws burst into immediate discussion about the troll. Padma found the other first years standing by the fireplace and she made her way towards them.

"So," Lisa was saying, "how do you think the troll could have got in?"

"Maybe the Slytherins let it in for a Halloween prank," Terry suggested.

"I don't think so!" Lisa snorted.

"It was just an idea," Terry said huffily. "I'd like to see you come up with a better theory!"

"Where would they have brought it in, anyway?" Padma asked. "It's not like they could just lead it through the main doors without the whole school noticing it. Trolls aren't exactly hard to miss!"

"Someone could have levitated it through a window," Michael said.

Anthony laughed.

"It's highly unlikely," he said. "Anything that size would take a large number of wizards to levitate it. And I don't think there are any windows big enough to fit a troll through."

Padma sat down in a high backed chair as Michael hurried over to the other side of the Common Room, climbing up a ladder and trying to find a book to prove that his theory could work. Kevin and Stephen, bored of the debate, started to play Gobstones on the rug before the fire. Padma watched, trying to distract herself from thinking that there was a troll on the loose in the castle. Terry, who had disappeared upstairs, returned with his entire collection of Chocolate Frog cards.

"What're you doing?" Padma asked him.

Terry looked up from flicking through the cards.

"I'm sorting them into alphabetical order," he explained. "I had them in order of the date that I got them at first but…"

Padma held up her hand.

"I don't want to know any more than that," she said with a quick smile.

Terry rolled his eyes and turned back to his collection. The Common Room was quickly emptying. As there was nothing else to do, most of the Ravenclaws decided that they might as well head up to bed. A few remained; some were writing letters and one read a miniscule book using a magnifying glass.

Padma sat back and stared into the fire, letting the last couple of months run through her head. Life at Hogwarts was good; she'd made friends, managed to understand the lessons and hadn't ended up with any burns or rashes like poor Hannah Abbott. She and Parvati were talking again after the birthday present fiasco, so everything was back to normal. Well, as normal as her life could ever be.

She eventually got up from her chair as the clock struck midnight, stretching and stifling a yawn. Padma glanced over to Terry.

"How're you doing?" she asked, yawning again.

"I'm up to 'T'," he said. "That's saying something, though. I do have seven hundred cards, after all."

"Fantastic," Padma said with a smile. "Goodnight then."

"Goodnight."

Padma smiled at him one last time and headed up to the dormitory. Everyone seemed to be asleep except for Su Li who was reading a letter in bed. She smiled briefly at Padma before snuffing out the candle on the table and closing the blue drapes around her. Padma didn't feel awake enough to get changed, so she crawled on top of her bed fully dressed and fell asleep almost immediately.

Her first Halloween at Hogwarts had definitely been interesting.


	7. So Different

**Chapter 7: So Different**

Two weeks before the end of term, Padma sat on the floor of the Common Room playing wizard chess with Terry in front of the fireplace. She wasn't very good though, and Terry seemed to be enjoying beating her a little too much. Padma winced as his queen knocked one of her bishops off the board.

"I can't believe that Harry Potter and that other boy…" Terry started.

"Ron Weasley," Padma finished, sending one of her pawns across the board.

"Yeah, him," Terry said. "I can't believe they went after that troll!"

After the fiasco with the troll at Halloween, it soon became apparent to the rest of Hogwarts that Harry and Ron had gone after the troll. Well, that's what it sounded like to most of the school, but Parvati told Padma that they'd just gone looking for Hermione Granger who'd been crying in the girls' toilets, and had happened to bump into it.

"I can't believe they weren't killed," Padma said. "And that you're still talking about this!"

"I can't believe they weren't expelled for being so stupid!" Terry said sharply. "I would've thought they'd have been out for sure! And they were given house points for doing it! It was just good luck, that's all," he added.

Padma nodded. It seemed like Harry had another stroke of luck; first You-Know-Who and now a fully grown mountain troll! Terry was concentrating hard on the board, but he still seemed to be annoyed about the house points the Gryffindors had received. Padma looked up as she heard the fluttering of wings to her left.

Rama swooped down through the partially opened window, perching on the back of a chair. He hooted importantly and dropped a letter onto the chair. Padma glanced back to the game of chess as Terry's remaining knight struck out at her king.

"Checkmate," he said triumphantly.

He set about clearing the remaining pieces off the board. Padma got up from the floor and took the letter from the chair, stroking her eagle owl. He nipped her finger gently and took off with a flutter of wings, flying out of the window. Padma sat down on the floor and turned the envelope over in her hands, recognising the writing as her mother's. She opened it and unfolded the letter.

_Dearest Padma,_

_From your last letter, I gather that you are enjoying your time at Hogwarts so far. I know I've said it before, but your father and I are immensely proud of you getting into such a prestigious school._

_Your father has just returned from working in China for a week. He was dealing with some tricky trade delegations. I think it was something to do with the trading of spell ingredients and their classifications. He brought back some interesting trinkets._

_Aunt Nisha and her family are coming to stay over the Christmas period. I would like you to come home for Christmas, but I fully understand if you want to stay at Hogwarts as your cousins take up a lot of room in the house. Please write back as soon as possible to tell me your plans._

_All my love,_

_Mum._

Padma lent back on the sofa behind her. She thought carefully; she knew that the house would be crowded and chaotic with her aunt, uncle and five children, and it was always impossible to get any privacy. Also, her aunt and uncle loved to ask her and Parvati countless questions about their lives because they very rarely saw them. Padma carefully folded up the letter and headed over to the table, taking a spare piece of parchment and writing a reply.

_Dear Mum,_

_I hope Dad had a nice time in China and that you and grandmother are well. My lessons have been going really well and I've made plenty of friends._

_I would really like to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas. I don't mean to be selfish in any way, but I know that I'll probably enjoy myself much more this way, and I want to see what Hogwarts is like at Christmas. Our cousins will be running riot and being really loud, and Aunt Nisha will ask me all sorts of questions. I hope that this is fine with you._

_Love from,_

_Padma._

She let the ink dry and folded the letter, finding a spare envelope on the table and sealing it before writing the address. Terry walked over to her, carrying his box of chessmen under one arm.

"Who're you writing to?" he asked.

"My mum," Padma said. "She wanted to know if I was going home for Christmas."

"And are you?"

"I'm staying," she explained. "My little cousins will be everywhere and they drive me crazy."

Terry nodded, sitting down on a chair opposite her.

"My mum and dad are going on holiday to Amsterdam," he said, "so you won't be all alone. We'll have a good time."

"I'm sure we will," Padma said, smiling. "I'm going to take this up to the Owlery," she added, "so I'll see you in the Great Hall for lunch."

She headed out of the Common Room. After a long walk up many staircases, Padma eventually reached the Owlery very out of breath. It was a circular room with perches running around the edge, and the stone floor was covered with droppings. There were several windows and the icy wind blew inside. Padma looked around for Rama.

The eagle owl was perched next to tawny, sleeping. Padma prodded him gently until he woke up, hooting in a disgruntled way.

"I want you to take this home," she said as she attached the letter to Rama's leg.

Rama hooted and swooped through the window and out of sight. Padma turned at the sound of footsteps and found Parvati standing in the doorway, a letter clutched in her hand.

"Did you get a letter from mum?" she asked Padma. Her twin nodded. "Well, are you coming home for Christmas with me?"

Padma shook her head.

"No," she said. "I don't think it's a good idea."

"Why not?" Parvati asked. She looked hurt.

Padma walked over to one of the windows, leaning back against the ledge.

"Because I know that everyone will ask questions and judge me!" she snapped, surprised at the anger in her voice. "They're always like that because they're from India. Aunt Nisha is always asking if I'm learning to read the leaves yet. She's definitely grandmother's daughter."

She glared at her twin sister. Parvati seemed to be confused and stepped forwards.

"Don't be so stupid," she said. "Just because they're from India it doesn't mean they'll be like grandmother. They're family. They love us."

Padma felt a mixture of sorrow and anger swell in her chest and she looked at her twin sister evenly.

"They love you," she said, "not us."

The twins stood in silence for a moment. Parvati seemed deep in thought and she stared at the floor.

"That's not true."

Padma felt as though she wanted to laugh. How could her sister be so blind? How couldn't she see it when it was right in front of her face?

"It's the same with all of them on dad's side, the older ones that is," Padma snapped. "Don't say to me that you haven't seen how they look at me or heard how they talk to me?" She paused, her anger building. "They think that just because I don't want to learn any of their traditional practices I'm worth less in some way! Don't you see it?"

Parvati bit her bottom lip. Padma walked over to her, put her hands on Parvati's shoulders.

"You know that it's true."

Parvati nodded and hugged her sister.

"I'm so sorry, Padma," she said, sniffing back tears. "I never noticed it before because," she paused, "because they're never like that to me."

"It's not your fault," Padma said. "We're just different, that's all. I think they find it difficult to believe when we look so alike."

The twin sisters clung onto one another, eventually pulling apart to find that both of them had tears in their eyes. Padma wiped her eyes on the back of her hand.

"Have a good time," she said. "And make sure that our cousins can't get into our room. Last time they came, I remember the younger ones having a pillow fight and getting feathers all over the place!"

Parvati laughed.

"I'll try," she said shortly. "Do you want your present when I leave?"

"Sure," Padma said. "I was going to send Rama with yours, but this will save him another trip."

Parvati smiled and called Shiva over from the perch. The tawny owl fluttered down onto her arm, allowing her to attach the letter to his leg before he flew out of the window. Padma and Parvati walked down to the Great Hall together, stopping at the door.

"I'll see you on the 23rd," they said at the same time.

Padma laughed and walked over to the Ravenclaw table, leaving Parvati to head over to join the Gryffindors. Suddenly, Padma felt as though a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Most of the resentment that she felt towards her twin because of how she was treated by her family had disappeared. She knew that Parvati didn't do it on purpose. It was like the Sorting Hat had shown by placing them in two separate houses; they were two very different people.

"Did you send your letter?" Terry asked as Padma sat down opposite him.

She nodded, sitting down beside Anthony and a second year Chinese girl who had long black hair. Padma took a piece of pie as Lisa hurried into the Great Hall, her bag crammed with books slung over her shoulder. She flopped down on the bench next to Mandy, looking exhausted.

"Where've you been?" Padma asked.

"Library," Lisa said briefly, gulping down a goblet of pumpkin juice. "I've been trying to do my History of Magic homework for Binns, but I'm nowhere near finished. I bet you have," she added to Padma with a wry smile.

Padma blushed and hid her face behind her goblet.

"I have," she said shortly. Suddenly she remembered something. "I haven't done my Charms homework yet," she said, feeling panicky. "We have to practice the Mobilus Charm before next lesson. Will you give me a hand practising, Lisa?"

Lisa shook her head.

"Sorry," she said, "I really have to finish my History of Magic homework first."

She was eating a fast as she possibly could in order to get back to the library quickly. Padma looked around her friends. Terry looked as if he was about to say something.

"I'll help you," Mandy said suddenly. "We should get started now if we want to get enough practice done. Come on, grab something to eat!"

Padma stood up and took a small pile of sandwiches.

"Hurry up, Padma!" Mandy said shrilly, snatching the sandwiches from her hands.

"See you later Lisa," Padma said. "Bye Terry."

Terry looked up and mumbled something into his goblet of juice. Padma looked over at Lisa who shrugged. Mandy grabbed hold of Padma's arm and half steered, half dragged her up to the Common Room.

They stood outside the entrance to the Ravenclaw Common Room. Padma glanced out of the window closest to her. Outside, the sky was a clear, cool blue. She shivered slightly as a cool wind passed by her, turning to find the Grey Lady, the Ravenclaw ghost, floating in front of her.

"Good afternoon," Padma said politely, inclining her head.

The Grey Lady said nothing. She merely looked at Padma, her eyes seemingly searching for something in her face or within her. Padma had been told by Penelope that the Grey Lady never uttered a word but that she always watched over those in her house. Suddenly, the ghostly woman smiled warmly and Padma felt reassured, though she didn't know what about. The Grey Lady turned and drifted down the staircase. Padma watched her go.

"Canis lupus," Mandy said to the statue. The entrance to the Common Room swung open. "Come on, Padma! Get a move on!"

Padma followed Mandy inside. The Common Room only contained a handful of Ravenclaws. As Mandy disappeared upstairs to find her Charms notes and copies ofthe _Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) _and _Magical Theory_, Padma sat down on a chair by the fireplace and looked around the Common Room. A couple of fourth years were gathered around the table doing homework, a sixth year stood halfway up one of the ladders trying to retrieve a book as thick as her fist, and in another corner, three second years were playing Exploding Snap.

Noticing Terry, Anthony and Michael coming through the entrance, Padma waved at them. The three boys waved back and headed upstairs to their dormitory as Mandy hurried down the girls' staircase, clutching her books and parchment in her arms.

"We'd better start on something simple," she said, flicking through her notes. She pulled an apple from her robes. "Go on; make it move across the floor."

Padma nodded and pulled out her wand.

"Mobilus!"

She smiled broadly as the apple went tumbling across the rug. She and Mandy spent the next couple of hours sending different objects rolling across the rug, seeing who could get them to go the furthest. As Padma sent Mandy's stuffed griffin across the mantelpiece, Professor Flitwick came into the Common Room, dragging a long piece of parchment along the floor behind him.

"I'll take the names of anyone who is staying here for Christmas!" he shouted squeakily.

Padma left Mandy working and went over to sign her name on the parchment. Terry, who'd come back down from his dormitory a couple of minutes before, wrote his name after hers.

"How's your Mobilus Charm going?" he asked.

Padma glanced over to the fireside where Anthony and Michael were setting up a game of Gobstones.

"I'll show you," she smiled, pulling out her wand. "Mobilus!"

The Gobstones rolled out of Michael's fingers and under the sofa. Michael yelled and scrambled after them on his hands and knees as they moved underneath the long table, winding about the chair legs. Terry laughed silently, stuffing his fist into his mouth, as Michael retrieved them from underneath a chair that was occupied by a very confused third year girl.

Padma put her wand away. She and Terry sat down on the sofa before the fire to watch Anthony and Michael play Gobstones, a game which she'd never liked because the pieces spat black liquid at the opposition. It was a very close match; Anthony was about to take one of Michael's pieces when he was hit in the eye, and Padma was very nearly sprayed when Michael ducked out of the way. Instead, she hid behind Terry who got a face full of the smelly black liquid.

"Thanks," he said irritably, wiping his face on his sleeve. "I'll get you back for this, Padma."

"Sure you will," Padma said, smiling.

Lisa collapsed on the floor in front of Mandy, dumping her bag on the rug. Spare quills and rolls of parchment spilled onto the floor.

"Finished at last!" she said. "Binns is a cruel man."

"You mean ghost," Michael corrected, silencing as Lisa glared at him.

"You only have your Potions and Transfiguration homework to do now," Terry added helpfully.

Lisa buried her head in her hands, moaning. Padma dug Terry in the ribs.

"Don't be so cruel!" she said, digging in her pocket and pulling out a handkerchief. "And clean your face properly! You look a mess!"

Terry took it grudgingly as Padma sat back in her chair. She looked into the fire, thinking of how much she was looking forward to Christmas. She'd never been this excited about it before.

Michael cried out in annoyance as Mandy used the Mobilus Charm on a Chocolate Frog that he was about to unwrap. Lisa rubbed her eyes and stretched out while Terry, who had managed to remove all of the liquid from his face, was reading a book titled _Goblin Rebellions of the 12th Century_.

Sitting cross-legged on the sofa, Padma pulled out her wand and saying the incantation to the Mobilus Charm, flicking her wand in Mandy's direction. She laughed as the Chocolate Frog escaped from Mandy's hand and rolled over into her lap. Padma unwrapped the Chocolate Frog and popped it into her mouth before either Michael or Mandy could protest.


	8. Christmas at Hogwarts

**Chapter 8: Christmas at Hogwarts**

Christmas came to Hogwarts. The week before the students who were going home left, snow had fallen on the castle. It now drifted high against the walls and the sky was a dark, threatening grey. Hogwarts had been decorated beautifully; there were twelve enormous trees covered in golden decorations in the Great Hall, the many suits of armour had been made to sing Christmas carols and the Ravenclaw Common Room had its own small trees decorated in blue and bronze.

The day before Christmas Eve, the students who were going home for the holidays congregated in the Entrance Hall. Padma and Terry went downstairs with Lisa, excitedly discussing about what they thought they'd be getting for presents. The Entrance Hall was filled with students talking loudly and shouting greetings to one another, and Padma managed to spot her sister standing by the doors to the Great Hall, talking to her friend Lavender.

"Have a great holiday," Padma said to Lisa, hugging her. She handed her a present. "Don't open it until Christmas Day. I cursed it, so if you open it before, you'll be sorry."

Lisa smiled, holding her present at arms length. She clearly didn't know whether or not to take what Padma said seriously.

"Are you sure this thing's safe?" she asked Padma.

"I didn't really curse it," Padma grinned, hugging her again. "But I did hex Terry's," she added in a whisper.

"What was that about me?" Terry asked in a panicky voice.

Padma ignored him and ran over to where Parvati stood with Lavender Brown, giggling about something. When she spotted Padma, Parvati left her trunk and hurried over, hugging her tightly.

"I'm going to miss you!" she said.

"I'm going to miss you too!"

It was the first time that they would have been this far apart. Padma held out two packages to her twin sister; they were wrapped in red paper and tied with gold ribbon.

"Happy Christmas," Padma said.

Parvati took the presents and gave Padma two of her own, hers wrapped in blue and bronze.

"Happy Christmas," Parvati said.

"Promise that you'll wait until Christmas Day to open them?"

Parvati nodded and hugged Padma again. Lavender tapped Parvati on the shoulder, dragging both of their trunks behind her.

"We've got to go," she said. She smiled warmly at Padma. "Have a nice Christmas."

"You too," Padma said. "I'll see you in the New Year," she added to Parvati, hugging her again.

Over by the huge doors, Filch, the castle's caretaker, shouted for everyone to leave. As they left, he ticked off their names on a long list. Padma watched as her twin sister walked out of the doors, glancing back and waving one last time. Terry came over to her.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

Padma nodded and smiled warmly at him.

"I'm fine," she said. "It's going to be a bit strange without her, but everything will be fine."

They stood side by side, watching as the last of the students walked out of the doors. Padma turned around to find Morag, Kevin and Anthony walking down the marble staircase. Morag had a bronze and blue scarf wrapped around her face.

"We're going outside for a snowball fight," Anthony said. "Are you two coming?"

Padma shrugged. She was still thinking about Parvati and how much she'd miss her, so even if she'd joined in, her mind wouldn't be on task.

"Sure," Terry said cheerfully. "You coming, Padma?"

"Oh all right!" she said. "You've persuaded me."

The five Ravenclaws spent the next two hours outside pelting each other with snowballs. Padma and Morag, who were hiding behind a tree avoiding a barrage of snowballs from the boys, pulled out their wands and used the Mobilus Charm on two snowballs. They gradually grew in size as they rolled around, eventually becoming as high as Padma's shoulder.

"That's cheating!" Anthony said. He dodged to one side as Padma sent her snowball chasing after him.

"Nobody said anything about not using magic!" Morag shouted.

The two Ravenclaw girls eventually managed to pin Terry between both of the snowballs.

"Let me out!" he shouted.

Padma and Morag threw snowballs at him until he managed to escape by kicking out at them. He chased after Padma laughing maniacally. Her throat was burning and she screamed as he caught her round the waist, hauling her over to a snow drift and dumping her into it.

"That's for using me as a human shield!" he shouted triumphantly, dusting off his hands.

It took Morag five minutes to haul Padma out of the drift. By that time, her lips were blue and she couldn't feel her nose. By lunch, the five of them were soaking wet and freezing cold, and they grabbed some sandwiches before heading up to the Common Room to get changed.

Padma went up to her dormitory to get changed and dry her hair. When she came back down to the Common Room, the others were sitting in front of the fireplace eating their lunch. Terry sat in one of the high backed chairs holding a parchment envelope in one hand. He held it out to Padma.

"Rama came with this for you a minute ago," he said.

"Thanks," Padma said.

She sat down on the sofa, crossing her legs underneath her and opening the envelope.

_Padma,_

_When your mother told me that you had decided to stay at Hogwarts for the holidays, I was very disappointed. After all, your family should be more important than your schoolwork. If Parvati is coming home, then you should be as well._

_Grandmother_

Padma stared at the parchment for several heartbeats, reading it over again to see whether she had read it correctly. Anger welled up in her chest again along with tears and she threw the letter aside, storming out of the Common Room. She stared out of the window near the bronze eagle. Outside, snow fell in flurries from the sky, whipped about by a strong wind, and she watched as a solitary owl battled through the storm.

That's exactly how she felt; buffeted around, treated by her grandmother as if she was something less; as if she was worth less than Parvati. She let the tears roll down her cheeks, feeling the anger pound in her ears as she glared out of the window.

"Padma, are you alright?"

She looked around. Terry stood behind her, his face full of concern. Padma turned back to the window, biting her lower lip.

"What's wrong?" Terry asked. "What did the letter say?"

"What makes you think it was the letter?" Padma snapped, turning around.

"Well, you weren't upset or angry before you got it," he started logically. "And then you…" he trailed off as Padma started to cry again.

Padma sat down at the top of the staircase, putting her head in her hands. She heard Terry walking towards her and looked up, finding him sitting next to her.

"I…I don't know much about this sort of thing," he said, staring at his shoes, "but it seems like you should just ignore her if she's upsetting you this much."

"You're so nosy!" Padma said shrilly. At the sight of Terry's face, she lowered her voice and continued," It's not as simple as that. It's just my grandmother… I don't really want to go into it."

"That's fine," Terry said, smiling warmly at her. "I'm not too good at listening to people's problems."

"That's because you're a boy," Padma said. She wiped her face dry. "Thanks for trying anyway, Terry." She paused and got to her feet. "I want to beat you at wizard chess," she said suddenly.

Terry laughed, scrambling to his feet.

"That'll never happen," he said as they walked over to the statue. "But you can try if you're willing to be humiliated! Athene noctua."

The two of them walked back into the Common Room. While Terry went up to his dormitory to get his chess set, Padma picked up the letter from the sofa where she'd left it. She stared at it for a moment, feeling tears pricking at her eyes, and she tossed it into the fire and watched it burn.

The rest of the afternoon, Padma tried desperately to beat Terry at wizard chess. She came close once, but his queen to out her attacking bishop with a vicious swipe. They played for hours, but she eventually gave up when Terry seemed to be enjoying beating her too much. The rest of the evening, the first years annoyed the few remaining Ravenclaws by playing Exploding Snap until very late.

o0o

Outside, Christmas morning dawned cold and crisp. When she woke up, Padma curled up under her covers and tried to pretend she was asleep, but Morag insisted in throwing a pillow at her head.

"Happy Christmas, Padma!" she said cheerfully.

Padma laughed.

"Happy Christmas, Morag!" she said, chucking the pillow back at her roommate.

Morag ducked and pulled on her dressing gown and slippers. Padma crawled out from her bed, finding a small pile of brightly wrapped presents at the foot of her bed. She put on her slippers and got out of bed.

"Do you want to go downstairs and open these?" she asked Morag.

Her roommate nodded and gathered her presents up in her arms, struggling to keep them balanced. Padma put hers into her dressing gown and lifted them that way.

"Wish I'd thought of that," Morag said as they struggled down the spiral staircase.

Downstairs in the Common Room, the trees on either side of the fireplace stood decorated in blue and bronze, topped with a bronze eagle. Aside from the two first years, the room was deserted. Padma dumped her presents onto the sofa and pulled her dressing gown on over her pyjamas. Morag sat down on a chair, glancing in the direction of the boys' staircase.

"What are you thinking?" Padma asked curiously.

"You'll see," Morag said.

She got up from the chair and sprinted up the stairs. Padma laughed shortly and hurried up after her classmate. She almost ran into Morag when she eventually reached the door of the first year Ravenclaws. Morag put a finger to her lips and crept forwards, pushing open the door slowly. Inside, the three boys were asleep, one of them snoring loudly. Their dormitory was exactly the same as Padma and Morag's, except it seemed to be messier, with clothes and spare parchment strewn across the floor. The two girls stood in the middle of the dormitory and shouted at the top of their voices,

"Merry Christmas!"

One of the boys shouted in surprise. Sleepy faces emerged from between the curtains of two of the beds, while it seemed that one of the Ravenclaw boys hadn't been woken. Terry, his hair tousled and eyes bleary, glared at Padma and Morag.

"What're you two doing in here?" he demanded, stifling a yawn,

"We're your wake-up call," Padma said, smiling sweetly.

Terry glared at her and disappeared back into his bed. Anthony put his glasses on, looking seriously at the two girls before wrenching the drapes around his bed again, while Michael continued to snore loudly. Padma and Morag giggled.

"We're going downstairs to open our presents," Morag announced.

"Join us if you want to!" Padma said.

The two girls hurried out of the room, giggling and sitting down in the Common Room to open their presents. Padma got a couple of old books on the history of Indian magic from her parents, along with some silver bangles. She wasn't too impressed with her grandmother's present though; she'd been given an antique tea cup and saucer, a clear hint for her to begin to read the leaves. There were also assorted trinkets from her relatives in India. She came across Parvati's present and eagerly unwrapped it. It was a book called _Anciente and Magical Beastes_, and there was also a photograph of the two of them in front of their house. Padma stared at the photograph for a moment, watching her and her twin smiling and waving happily before turning to her other presents. She received a box of fudge from Lisa, and Terry had got her a small book titled _The History of Magic in Britain _and a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans.

Padma turned at the sound of footsteps. Terry, Anthony and Michael trudged down the boys' staircase, Terry still looking very annoyed at Padma for waking him up. His hair was still all over the place and he yawned again, yelping as Padma ran over and hugged him tightly.

"Thank you for the present!" she said.

Terry shrugged, trying to look unconcerned but a smile played at the corner of his mouth and he hugged her back.

"I'm only hugging you because you got me a whole box of Chocolate Frogs and a book on Puddlemere United," he said seriously.

"Of course you are," Padma said, pulling away and smiling.

Terry muttered something under his breath and stormed over to the fireplace, sitting down in one of the high backed chairs. The five Ravenclaws spent the morning looking through their presents, and just before lunch they went upstairs to get changed. In the Great Hall, they joined the partially filled Ravenclaw table for the most amazing Christmas dinner Padma had ever seen.

In between eating piles of turkey and chipolatas, Padma pulled several wizarding crackers with Morag. Padma pulled as hard as she could, suddenly tumbling backwards off her seat, engulfed in a cloud of smoke. Blushing, she scrambled back onto the bench and gathered her prizes together; she had a multicoloured beret that she put on at a jaunty angle, Musical Shoelaces that played God Rest Ye Merry Hippogriffs and several packets of Pepper Imps. At the teacher's table, Hagrid was getting red faced and loud as he drank wine, and Dumbledore laughed enthusiastically at the jokes that Professor Flitwick told him. Snape seemed to be the only teacher who wasn't enjoying himself. Even Professor Quirrel laughed nervously at Flitwick's jokes, though he did jump several feet in the air when Hagrid and Professor McGonagall pulled a cracker.

Padma turned at a yell from Terry. It seemed that Terry had accidentally set his hat on fire by leaning over one of the flaming Christmas puddings, and he was now trying to extinguish it with a cracker.

"Hold still!" Michael shouted.

He grabbed a jug from the table and poured the contents over Terry's head. The fire was out, but Terry looked furious, his hair sopping wet and water dripping from his nose. Padma couldn't help but laugh hysterically, and she and Morag had to lean against one another to stay sitting.

"Thanks," Terry said bitterly, pulling the sodden hat off his head.

Anthony, who was eating some of the pudding, laughed and started choking. He eventually coughed up a silver Sickle that had been embedded inside it. At the end of lunch, the Ravenclaws trooped upstairs. They were too full and sleepy to do anything at all, and they slumped in the Common Room, watching as several bored fourth years sent wrapping paper flying across the room to attack one another.

"How have you enjoyed your Christmas?" Morag asked, stifling a yawn.

"It's been fantastic," Padma said.

It wasn't the entire truth though. She missed Parvati terribly, as well as her mum and dad, and couldn't help but think about what they were doing now. Padma smiled at Morag.

"I'm stuffed," she added as an afterthought.

"Me too," Terry said, even though he was now eating his Chocolate Frogs with gusto.

"Doesn't look like it," Padma said.

Terry rolled his eyes and Padma laughed. It really had been a fantastic Christmas.

After New Year, when the rest of the school returned to start the new term, time flew by faster than Padma had ever known before.


	9. Hydrangeas and Hysterics

**Chapter 9: Hydrangeas and Hysterics**

On the first day of the new term, the memory of the Christmas and New Year celebrations fading from her mind, Padma sat at the Ravenclaw table eating breakfast. She had a copy of _One Thousand Magical Plants and Fungi _propped up against a bowl of fruit and turned the pages between munching on a slice of buttered toast. She looked up as dozens of owls swooped down from the ceiling, carrying letters and parcels for the students. Across the table, Terry was opening a parcel that turned out to be full of socks. Padma looked at him curiously.

"My mum sent them," Terry explained. "I wrote to her after Christmas and told her that all of my other pairs had holes in."

Padma smiled shortly and looked over to the Gryffindor table. She could see Parvati retrieving a parcel from her tawny owl Shiva. Parvati opened it eagerly, showing her friend Lavender; it seemed like she'd received a box of Liquorice Wands from their grandmother.

"What lessons have we got today?" Padma asked, trying to distract herself.

"Double Herbology and Charms this morning," Lisa said. "Then we have Astronomy at midnight."

At this comment, Anthony looked distressed.

"I'll never be able to keep awake tonight!" he said, stifling a yawn. "I stayed up last night trying to finish Snape's essay and I'm shattered!"

Padma smiled and glanced back over to the Gryffindor table; Parvati was now eating the sweets and sharing them with Lavender. Swallowing back the annoyance that rose in her throat, Padma got to her feet. She glanced at the enchanted ceiling above, finding it to be a dark and stormy grey.

"We'd better get going to Herbology."

The Ravenclaws headed out of the Great Hall and into the grounds of the castle. Padma pulled the hood of her cloak up over her head and hurried down the sodden grass, trying to avoid slipping over. Somewhere in the distance thunder rumbled loudly. Professor Sprout was standing in the door, her hat perched precariously on her flyaway hair. She smiled warmly at the first years.

"You'd best come inside before you drown!" she said loudly as thunder rumbled again. "This weather would even make a kelpie want to be dry!"

Padma hurried inside. She sat down at a desk at the back of the greenhouse next to Terry and hung her damp cloak over a hoe. As usual the greenhouse was humid and full of greenery, and the scent of perfume hung upon the air. The greenhouse was also filled with the sound of thudding as rain pounded down on the panes of glass.

"You won't need your books today!" Professor Sprout said cheerfully. She lifted down a huge pot from her bench. "We're working with Humming Hydrangeas, and I'll be asking you to do written work on them for homework."

Padma groaned inwardly; she may have been able to do the written aspects of Herbology well enough but practical work was another matter entirely. She would worry so much about making a mistake that she would get nervous, anxious and make twice as many errors as anyone else.

The Slytherins eventually entered Greenhouse Two, talking and laughing loudly. One of them was looking murderous, his cloak covered in mud. It seemed as though he'd been pushed down the slippery slope by one of his housemates.

"Do take that cloak of, Mr Zabini," Professor Sprout said. She clapped her hands enthusiastically, silencing the class. "Now, today we will be working with Humming Hydrangeas. Can anyone tell me what the Hydrangeas are used for?"

Next to Padma, Terry raised his hand.

"Mr Boot?"

"When they're planted around other species, the humming drives off pests," he said.

Professor Sprout nodded.

"Well done, Mr Boot. Five points for Ravenclaw." Terry smiled and his cheeks become tinged with a blush. "What pests do the Hydrangeas best drive away?" Professor Sprout continued.

This time Padma raised her hand.

"Gnomes," she answered. "The humming is extremely painful for them to hear."

"Another five points to Ravenclaw!" Professor Sprout said. "Humming Hydrangeas are popular in wizarding households because of this property, as well as because they are tuneful. Different varieties are capable of producing different tones. I'll just go and get the specimens for you," she added.

When Professor Sprout disappeared through a partition in Greenhouse Two, the Slytherins started to talk loudly. Pansy Parkinson turned on her stool, glaring at the Ravenclaws.

"They're just a bunch of know-it-alls," she said in a clear, carrying voice. "Thinking that they're so much better because they're in the intelligent house; it makes me sick!"

Padma rolled her eyes, ignoring the Slytherin girl. Next to her, Terry was clenching his teeth tightly together and his face was flushed. Across the classroom, Draco Malfoy seemed to notice this and Padma saw his cold eyes light up.

"You're quite right, Pansy," Malfoy added in his drawling voice. "They should be called the Ravenbores instead; they could put someone to sleep just by talking!"

The Slytherins laughed. Malfoy continued,

"Patil would be the best of them all."

Padma still ignored him, but Terry was glaring at Malfoy, muttering under his breath.

"And she doesn't deserve to be here," Malfoy said with a final smirk. "This isn't even her country!"

Padma took a sharp intake of breath; she'd lived in England for all of her life and had very rarely received this sort of comment. But whenever she did, she felt as though she wanted to scream. She turned on her stool. Terry glanced from her to Malfoy then back again, and then suddenly leapt to his feet, fumbling for his wand in his robes.

"How dare you!" he hissed.

"Terry!" Padma said. She grabbed his wand hand and pulled him back down to his stool. "Put your wand away!"

Malfoy smirked as Professor Sprout returned, carrying a tray of gently humming shrubs in her arms. Padma let go of Terry's hand. He was still glaring at the back of Malfoy's pale blonde head.

"What were you thinking?" she asked him. "It's not your job to defend me if someone is insulting towards me! I can look after myself, you know!"

"I know!" Terry said, a blush spreading across his cheeks. "I saw you deal with Pansy before…" he paused as Professor Sprout placed a Humming Hydrangea in front of both of them. "…but that comment Malfoy made about you just pushed me over the edge. Insulting our house is like insulting a family."

Padma nodded and patted his arm sympathetically.

"That's all true," she said, "but there was no need to draw your wand. Just try and ignore Malfoy. Though he would've deserved it," she added with a smile.

Professor Sprout stood at the front of the greenhouse and clapped her hands.

"Now pay attention everyone!" she said clearly. "We are going to prune these Howling Hydrangeas, but you must be careful. One wrong snip and the tone will change drastically; therefore it will no longer have repelling properties. You only need to take off the old growth that is dying and you must prune the new shoots correctly in order to encourage growth."

Padma took the pruning knife in one hand. She found her hand to be trembling and she took a deep breath before starting to work. The white flowered shrub in front of her was humming softly, in perfect harmony with Terry's, but when Padma accidentally cut off a bud, the tone changed dramatically; it was now higher and sharper. She bit her lower lip, put down the knife and raised her hand.

"What seems to be the problem, Miss Patil?"

Professor Sprout stood over the Humming Hydrangea, inclining her head closer to the shrub.

"It sounds very sharp, Miss Patil," she concluded, straightening her hat. "Did you nick a flower, by any chance?"

Padma shook her head, feeling her face burn.

"It was a bud, Professor Sprout."

"Ah, I see. Well you can retune a Humming Hydrangea, you know. Take off a bud on the opposite side of the plant…" she paused as Padma picked up the knife, "…as close to level as you can, and that should get it back to normal. That's it."

Padma listened carefully. Now the shrub was humming at the same tone as it had originally. Professor Sprout smiled briefly before heading over to help someone else. At the end of the lesson, Padma washed her hands and grabbed her bag, heading outside where the rain had finally stopped.

"May I have a word, Miss Patil?"

Padma walked over to the front bench where Professor Sprout stood cleaning her trowels with a rag.

"Yes, Professor Sprout?"

"I've noticed how nervous you are when you take part in practical work," Professor Sprout noted, putting down her fork. "Now I know that you are fully capable of completing the written work, but practical work is the most important part of Herbology. Perhaps it would be a good idea if you had some extra practice."

Padma nodded shortly. She felt embarrassed that she was actually unable to do something, but at least Professor Sprout was giving her a chance to improve.

"There are a couple of first year Ravenclaws who attend Herbology Club on a Monday. I would suggest talking to Kevin Entwhistle; he is quite adept, and I'm sure he would be willing to help you."

"Yes Professor Sprout," Padma said. "Thank you."

Padma left Greenhouse Two and rushed up to the castle for her Charms lesson. When she entered the classroom, she apologised to Professor Flitwick and sat down. That lesson was a lot duller than it usually was. Padma spent her time writing down the theories behind Locomotion Charms on organic matter, specifically how to make fruit dance. At the end of the lesson Padma jotted down her homework and headed down to the Great Hall for lunch.

"Hey Kevin!" she cried as she walked down the marble staircase.

Kevin, who was walking with Stephen, turned and hurried over to her.

"Could you do me a favour?" Padma asked.

"Of course," Kevin said. He took off his glasses and started to clean them on the corner of his robes. "What can I help you with?"

Padma stood silent for a moment.

"I was wondering if you would be able to give me some help with my practical work in Herbology," she said finally, flushing. "Professor Sprout said that it would be the best thing to do."

"Of course," Kevin said. "When would you like to practice?"

"Friday afternoon perhaps? We have it free."

"Then we'll go down after lunch on Friday."

The two of them walked down to the Great Hall and sat down at the Ravenclaw table. Lisa looked up from her goblet.

"What're you doing after lunch, Padma?"

"Probably my Potions homework," Padma said. "Or I'll read. Actually, I think I still have that Astronomy homework to do…"

Her list of things to do was cut off by the sound of fluttering wings. She looked up at the ceiling, finding that Rama was swooping down from the ceiling, damp and hooting irritably. He dropped a letter into Padma's lap and settled on the table momentarily before flying off, showering the Ravenclaws with water. Padma slit the envelope open, wondering why it hadn't come at breakfast with the other owls. It read:

_Dear Padma,_

_As you may recall me saying in my last letter, I was extremely disappointed that you didn't come home at Christmas to see the family. Your aunt, uncle and cousins were asking after you. When Parvati came home, it became apparent to me that you were staying home because of a boy. You know that family comes before school and that comes before boys. After all, you are far too young to be considering such things. Parvati said that his name was Terry, and well, I have to say that he doesn't sound suitable at all._

_Love from,_

_Grandmother._

Padma had to read over the letter twice before what it said sank in. Suddenly she realised what Parvati had insinuated. She was at a loss as to why she would even say that. She had told Parvati exactly why she hadn't gone home.

Standing up so suddenly that she knocked over her goblet of pumpkin juice, Padma glared over to the Gryffindor table; Parvati was heading out of the Great Hall with Lavender.

"Where are you going?" Lisa asked.

Padma ignored her and stormed after her twin sister, anger thudding in her ears. Her long hair streamed around her face and she clenched her fists, stalking after her twin.

"Parvati!"

Parvati turned around at once, smiling warmly. This only served to make Padma more furious and she glared at her sister.

"What do you want?" Parvati asked, seemingly oblivious to her twin's anger.

"How dare you say that to her! You had no right to tell her such lies!" Padma screamed suddenly. She was breathing heavily through her nose, the blood pounding at her temples.

She was suddenly aware that people in the Entrance Hall were watching her outburst. Padma grabbed Parvati by the robes and dragged her outside onto the grass. Her twin brushed down her robes, looking confused.

"Mind my robes, Padma," she said sniffily. "And what lies do you mean?"

"Oh, shut up, Parvati!" Padma hissed.

"What're you doing?" Lavender asked. She stood at the doors looking concerned.

"Go where you need to be." Lisa had arrived at the doors and was watching the twins carefully. She put her arm on Lavender's shoulder. "This is nothing to do with us," she said, and steered Lavender inside.

Padma took a deep breath and looked evenly at her sister.

"You told her that I was staying for Christmas because of a boy," she said icily. "A boy. And not just any boy; you told her I was staying because of Terry!" Her voice had risen to a shout again. "Terry; my best friend! He's my friend, Parvati, nothing more and nothing less!"

Parvati looked shocked and her face was flushed.

"I told you why I was staying!" Padma continued. "I told you up in the Owlery and I thought you understood me! I told you, and you went and told grandmother something else anyway!"

She turned and headed back up to the castle, tears threatening to slip from her eyes. A hand gripped tightly onto her wrist and she turned, finding Parvati standing there with tears in her own eyes.

"It was a joke!" Parvati said helplessly. "I was talking to cousin Hina and she asked why you weren't there; I told her it was probably because of Terry. I told her it was probably because he was your boyfriend. Grandmother must have overheard us."

Padma couldn't help but laugh.

"Don't be so selfish, Parvati!" Padma said coldly. "And even if that is true, you didn't do anything to suggest otherwise. You may as well have told her in person."

Parvati now had tears running down her cheeks and she took hold of her twin's hands.

"It was a joke!" she said again. "I should have told her something, but even if I had done she would never had believed me…"

"That much is true."

"I just felt jealous, I suppose," Parvati said finally. "Of your friends in Ravenclaw. Padma, we've been together all of our lives and all of a sudden we're pulled apart. Haven't you found it hard?" Padma nodded. "So when I knew you weren't coming home I felt so horrible and when she overheard…"

"That's why you didn't say anything," Padma said.

The twins stood in silence for a moment. Parvati sniffed loudly and wiped the tears from her face. Padma folded her arms and stared at the ground.

"I've got to go," she said suddenly.

"But I thought…"

Padma set off up the stairs, ignoring her twin's insistent cries. As she reached the huge doors she stopped and swivelled around.

"I know what you mean," she said logically. "But you still didn't do anything when you should have. I can't forgive you for that, not just now. We're twins," she explained to a confused looking Parvati, "and you should know that that's more important than what house we're in or how jealous you feel."

Without another word she headed into the Entrance Hall where Lisa and Terry were standing. Lisa walked over, putting her hand on Padma's shoulder.

"Are you alright?"

Padma nodded.

"I suppose," she said. "It's just family stuff."

Lisa smiled appreciatively and didn't ask anything else. As they headed up to the Ravenclaw Common Room, Terry stopped halfway up a set of stairs.

"I could've sworn I heard my name mentioned when you were arguing outside," he said with a puzzled expression on his face. "Nothing bad, I hope?"

Padma, although she was still angry at Parvati, couldn't help but smile. As she hurried up the stairs, Terry pestering him as to why he had been mentioned, she wondered about how he would react if she told him what her grandmother thought was going on between the two of them.


	10. A Chilly Day in March

**Chapter 10: A Chilly Day in March**

Over the next month or so, Padma would go down to Greenhouse One with Kevin and he would teach her more about the practical aspects of Herbology. On the first Friday he'd gone through the basics, teaching her how to re-pot plants, prune them and how to use fertilizer properly. There were a couple of accidents though. Padma once dropped a Creeping Vine on the floor and Kevin had to go and get Professor Sprout in order to stop it taking root on the stone floor.

By the beginning of March, Padma had improved dramatically. She was now more confident and had less of a tendency to drop things. One Thursday morning at breakfast, Padma sat eating an apple and reading the _Daily Prophet_. Lisa and Michael walked over to the Ravenclaw table, the former looking furious. She sat down next to Padma and grabbed some toast. Michael seemed as though he wanted to say something but Lisa's stony expression clearly made him think twice and he sat in silence.

"What's wrong?" Padma asked Lisa.

"You should ask Corner," Lisa said huffily. "He should know why."

Padma looked over to Michael who shrugged, looking confused.

"I have no idea," he said. "And Lisa won't tell me what I've supposedly done!"

"There's no supposedly about it!" Lisa hissed. "He ruined my Potions notes and my best quill! How you didn't realise is a mystery to me!"

"Is that it?" Terry asked innocently.

Lisa looked scandalous.

"I spent hours on those notes and my quill cost me seven Sickles! I try to be nice, lending them to Corner, and he manages to spill Butterbeer all over them!"

"Where did you get Butterbeer from?" Anthony asked.

"A couple of fifth years brought them back from Hogsmede at Christmas," Michael explained.

Lisa stood up and grabbed her bag along with a stack of toast.

"That's not the point," she said acidly, and stormed out of the Great Hall.

Padma got to her feet and turned to Michael.

"Maybe you should copy out your notes for Lisa," she suggested. "And make sure that they're neat; she can't stand scruffiness."

Padma hurried after Lisa. She spotted her blonde hair disappearing around a corner and she eventually caught up. Lisa stood outside Quirrel's classroom and was eating a slice of toast, glaring at the opposite wall.

"Are you alright?" Padma ventured.

Lisa looked around. She smiled weakly at Padma and offered her a slice of toast.

"It wasn't really the fact that he ruined my notes," she explained. "It was that Corner wouldn't even apologise when he knew he'd done something wrong."

"He's just an insensitive wart," Padma said with a grin. "Merlin knows he needs a good dose of Personality Potion to make him nicer!"

Lisa sniggered and smiled at Padma.

"That's true enough."

The two Ravenclaw girls turned as Professor Quirrel emerged from his classroom. He smiled weakly at them and adjusted his oversized turban that, as usual, smelt strongly of garlic.

"N-no sense in standing r-round outside, is there g-girls?" he asked in his stammering voice. "C-come inside and sit d-down."

Padma and Lisa entered the classroom and sat down at the front desk. The Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom was fairly gloomy as Quirrel insisted on hanging black nets over the window to keep out Dark creatures, and he had all sorts of books lining shelves in the room. There were skeletons of several unusual creatures and a dragon head above the blackboard that seemed to watch everyone in the room. Padma took out her copy of _The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection_.

When the rest of the Ravenclaws came into the class, Lisa turned around in her seat and glared at Michael before pulling out her parchment and a spare quill from her bag.

"Today we w-will be continuing our w-work on d-d-dragons," Quirrel said. He waved his wand and waved it, making diagrams of different breeds appear on the blackboard. "The Hebridean B-black is the only other d-dragon native to Britain a-aside f-from the Common Welsh G-green. The wizard c-clan McFusty has traditionally t-taken responsibility for t-their m-management…"

Padma set about making notes and by the end of the lesson she had several scrolls about British dragons.

"For h-homework I want you all t-to write two f-feet on M-muggle viewings of d-dragons."

Professor Quirrel gave one last, frightened look at the Ravenclaws and hurried out of the classroom. After a quick dinner, when Lisa was still refusing to talk to Michael, the Ravenclaw first years headed down to the cool, dimly lit dungeons for Potions with the Hufflepuffs.

Even though the weather outside was warmer, Snape's dungeon remained cool and Padma shivered slightly as she took her seat at the desk that she shared with Lisa, Terry and Anthony. As Snape walked into the classroom, his black robes billowing around him, Lisa took the opportunity to glare at Michael one more time.

"Do you think we could steal some Personality Potion," she whispered to Padma.

Padma stifled a giggle with her hand as Snape looked around the dungeon.

"Today you will be working on a Cooling Potion," he said, tapping the board so that the instructions appeared there. "You will find the ingredients in the cupboard…" the door flew open with a bang "…so get on with it then."

Padma lit a flame under her cauldron with her wand and set about shredding ragwort leaves. It was a fairly complicated potion, having to be stirred a certain number of times clockwise and all of the ingredients had to be added in the right order. By the end it was meant to be a light blue with white fumes hovering over the surface. Padma's was a little darker than it should be, but at least hers wasn't thick and black like Terry's.

Snape swept about the dungeon scrutinising their potions. He came to a Hufflepuff called Justin Finch-Fletchly and stared at his cauldron.

"You incompetent child!" Snape snapped. "A cooling potion isn't meant to be red!" He walked over to the Ravenclaws and studied Padma's potion. "You forgot to stir anti-clockwise on the third step," he said icily.

Padma glared at her near-perfect potion.

"And what on earth is this meant to be, Mr Boot?"

Terry had paled considerably.

"A Cooling Potion, sir."

Snape sneered.

"We'd best see if it works then. If it does, the drinker should feel pleasantly cooled. If not…well, we'll see, won't we. Any volunteers?"

Nobody, quite obviously, wanted to try Terry's appalling potion. Snape looked around the dungeon, his black eyes eventually settling on Padma. She felt her stomach squirm uncomfortably.

"Maybe one of your fellow Ravenclaws, Mr Boot," Snape said with a smile. "Miss Patil; if you would step up here. Quickly now."

Padma got up and walked over to Terry's cauldron. Terry looked pale and concerned as Snape poured some of the tar-like potion into a goblet. He handed it to Padma.

"Drink up, Miss Patil."

Taking the goblet in trembling hands, Padma looked at Terry. He was biting his lower lip. Padma gulped down the potion. It suddenly felt as though as her stomach had been filled with ice and the sensation spread throughout her body, clutching at her throat and her head. She shivered uncontrollably and slipped down to the floor, her vision blacking around the edges. The last thing she heard before she lost consciousness was Snape's voice.

"Seems as though that wasn't a Cooling Potion then, Mr Boot."

o0o

When Padma woke she found herself in what was probably the Hospital Wing, tucked up in bed with a blue and bronze scarf wrapped about her neck. Her head was pounding, her throat sore and her nose was streaming. She sneezed loudly. It seemed as though Terry's botched potion had given her a bad cold. She looked up and found a single, hunched figure at the foot of her bed.

"Is that you, Terry?"

He turned, his face a mixture of relief and embarrassment, and got up to sit on the bed next to Padma.

"I'm so sorry!" he said. "It's all my fault…"

"I've told you before, Mr Boot, it's not your fault." The speaker was a motherly looking woman who held two bottles and a spoon in her hands. "You mustn't blame yourself. Professor Snape should have known not to give a poorly made potion to a student." She turned to Padma. "I'm Madam Pomfrey, Miss Patil; now a dose of Pepper-Up Potion should make you feel better after I give you the antidote."

Padma swallowed down a spoonful of each potion, the second one burning her throat slightly. She felt her head clear considerably and her nose stopped running.

"Thank you," she said to Madam Pomfrey, finding her throat still sore.

"I'm going to keep you here overnight," Madam Pomfrey said. "Just to make sure that you're perfectly well before you go back to lessons."

Padma watched as she disappeared through a door.

"Why aren't you in Charms?" she asked Terry.

"I was excused because of the…incident," Terry said bashfully. "Oh, and I brought you a present, just to say that I'm sorry."

"You didn't have to," Padma said croakily.

"I did," Terry said firmly. "It's my fault that you're in here. I just want to say that I'm sorry." He handed her a package wrapped in a page of the _Daily Prophet_. "I was going to save it for your birthday but this seemed more important."

Padma smiled genuinely and unwrapped the present, finding it to be a framed photograph of the two of them out in the snow at Christmas. The moving figures were smiling and laughing, damp with snow, and they waved merrily out at Padma.

"Morag took it," Terry said. "Do you remember?"

Padma nodded and she felt her stomach warm as though she'd had another dose of Pepper-Up Potion. She hugged Terry tightly, unable to stop smiling.

"It was almost worth drinking that potion for this."

Terry smiled.

"I'd better get going. I'll see you at breakfast tomorrow."

Padma settled back into her bed and watched as he walked out of the Hospital Wing. That night, for no reason that she could put her finger on, she fell asleep with the photograph hugged close to her chest.


	11. Revision and Rumours

**Chapter 11: Revision and Rumours**

It was now the last week of May and the exams would be starting on the first of June. Padma and the rest of the Ravenclaws were revising hard in the Common Room which seemed filled to bursting point. It was almost impossible to find a seat. Padma still wasn't speaking to Parvati unless it was completely necessary. In any case, her twin was always accompanied by the ever-giggling Lavender.

The night before the first exam, History of Magic, the first year Ravenclaws had managed to sit around the end of the long wooden table. Other Ravenclaws had gone to the library or retreated to their dormitories upstairs to get some peace. As Padma read, Terry was pacing back and forth with a furrowed brow, desperately trying to remember the ingredients of a Forgetfulness Potion. Suddenly he was knocked to the ground by a Rune Dictionary that a fifth year had Summoned across the Common Room.

Terry scrambled to his feet blushing furiously and rubbed the back of his head. Anthony and Michael were desperately trying to hide the fact that they were in hysterics. Padma looked up from her copy of a _Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration _and smiled at Terry in a sympathetic way.

"This is mad," he said bitterly, sitting down beside her.

"Everyone has to revise," Padma said matter-of-factly.

"I know that, but sending books flying about the place is a bit too much."

He rubbed his head again and retrieved a copy of _Magical Theory_. Padma leant back in her chair and massaged her temples, looking around the Common Room to distract her from her work. By the fireplace, Penelope was Transfiguring a goblet into an owl and back again. She was taking her O.W.L.s and had been working non-stop for weeks on revision. The fifth year looked tense, but not as much as some others. Several Ravenclaws had developed nasty rashes and Padma had heard of a girl who fainted every day.

Padma thought how grateful she was that she wasn't that stressed. She turned back to her book, hoping that everything was going to go alright with her exams.

o0o

A week later Padma had completed all of her first year exams. Most of the nervous sensation that had built up in her chest had disappeared, the remainder being about her results. She had managed to Transfigure her matchbox into a very pretty snuffbox, her Cheering Draught had worked just about perfectly and she'd remembered the names of all twenty five goblins that instigated the Lincoln Rising of 1231. She sat at breakfast with Terry and Lisa discussed how the exams had gone.

"I managed to leave matches in my snuffbox," Terry said through a mouthful of toast.

"I definitely improved in Herbology," Padma said.

"Thanks to me," Kevin interrupted across the table.

Padma smiled at him.

"That's true. But it didn't stop me from mixing up the fertilizers in the exam. My Humming Azaleas doubled in size and Professor Sprout had to move them to a larger greenhouse."

Lisa laughed and looked up from her copy of the _Daily Prophet_.

"That's fair enough, but would you stop discussing exams!" she said. "What's done is done. Padma, I don't want to catch you checking the answers again."

Padma tried not to smile. She spotted Parvati hurrying over to the Ravenclaw table. Her twin looked excited and squeezed in between Padma and Terry.

"Have you heard the rumours?"

Padma rolled her eyes.

"What do you want to say?" she asked her twin sniffily. "If it's not important you should go."

Parvati frowned.

"I've told you I'm sorry a thousand times!" she pouted. "Can't you forgive me?"

"Maybe," Padma said with a smile. "But you shouldn't be such a gossip, Parvati!"

"It's not gossip. It's based on reliable information, I'll have you know."

Terry poured himself a goblet of pumpkin juice.

"Who told you?" he asked.

"Even if it's reliable information, it's still gossip."

"No it's not."

"Who told you?" Terry asked again.

Parvati turned and glared at him.

"Neville Longbottom, if you really want to know!" she snapped.

"What a fantastic source of information!" Michael said sarcastically. "What did he tell you? That his toad had gone missing again?"

Terry sniggered. Parvati looked scandalous.

"No. He told me that Harry Potter, Ron and Hermione disappeared last night. And nobody has seen them since."

At the mention of Harry, Mandy looked distraught. She stood up in her seat and scanned the Gryffindor table.

"He's not there!"

Mandy looked close to tears. Terry looked as though he wanted to tease Mandy but Padma silenced him with an elbow to the ribs.

"I told you," Parvati said smugly. "I'll see you later, Padma."

She walked back over to the Gryffindor table. Padma looked over to the teachers' table and saw an empty seat. It was Professor Quirrel's.

Over the next couple of days, rumours flew around the castle. Padma was told by one of the ghosts that the Philosopher's Stone had been in Hogwarts and Professor Quirrel had tried to steal it for You-Know-Who to restore him to power. And now Quirrel was dead. Padma didn't know about the part about You-Know-Who, but it was clear that Harry was in the Hospital Wing and Quirrel was gone. Whatever had happened, the teachers refused to comment about it when asked.

o0o

At the end of year feast, the school gathered in the Great Hall. The room was decked out in banners of green and silver of Slytherin. As Padma sat down, she glanced over to the Slytherin table where they looked triumphant, shaking hands with one another and laughing.

"It's sickening," she said.

Pansy Parkinson stuck her tongue out at Padma who ignored her.

"It's their seventh year in a row," Terry said. "I heard one of the fifth years telling her friend. She'd heard from…"

"It's Harry!" Mandy said suddenly, looking joyous.

The Great Hall went silent. Harry looked embarrassed and well, considering what he'd supposedly gone through. Many of the students, Mandy included, stood up to get a better view. Lisa grabbed hold of a handful of her robes and pulled her back down. Terry shook his head and Padma stifled a laugh.

When Professor Dumbledore arrived the students fell silent. His bright blue eyes seemed to scan the faces of every student before he recited a speech, eventually coming to the house points; Gryffindor were fourth, Hufflepuff third, Ravenclaw second and Slytherin first. The noise from the Slytherin table was deafening; they clapped and cheered, stamping their feet, and Snape looked very smug at the teachers' table.

Professor Dumbledore raised his hands for silence.

"Yes, yes, well done Slytherin," he said with a twinkle in his eye. "However, recent events must be taken into account." The Slytherins muttered mutinously amongst themselves. "Ahem. I have a few last-minute points to give out. Let me see. Yes…"

He paused for a moment. The Great Hall was deathly silent.

"First – to Mr Ronald Weasley…for the best played game of chess that Hogwarts has seen in many years, I award Gryffindor house fifty points."

The Gryffindors cheered loudly, breaking the silence. The Slytherins sat in stony silence.

"Second – to Miss Hermione Granger…for the use of cool logic in the face of fire, I award Gryffindor house fifty points."

Padma looked over to the Gryffindor table where Hermione had her head in her hands, seemingly crying. Pansy was glaring at Dumbledore with an expression of pure loathing.

"Third – to Mr Harry Potter…for pure nerve and outstanding courage, I award Gryffindor house sixty points."

The Great Hall burst into excited shouts and cheers. The Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws joined in, joyous at the fact that the Slytherins were so annoyed. Padma couldn't stop smiling.

"Gryffindor and Slytherin are level!" Terry shouted over the cheers.

"Dumbledore should have given Harry more house points!" Mandy cried. "He deserves it after all he went through!"

Professor Dumbledore raised his hands once more and silence fell again.

"There are all kinds of courage," Dumbledore said warmly. "It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends. I therefore award ten points to Mr Neville Longbottom."

A great explosion of sound filled the Great Hall. The cheers and clapping echoed up to the high ceiling. Padma was on her feet clapping while Mandy looked as though she was going to cry. Gryffindor had beaten Slytherin, and any Slytherin defeat was positive in the eyes of a Ravenclaw.

"Which means we need a change of decoration!" Professor Dumbledore cried over the cheering.

He clapped his hands and the Slytherin banners changed to the red and gold of Gryffindor. Padma sat back down as the feast appeared. The Ravenclaw first years ate and talked excitedly about their plans for the summer.

"I got a letter from my mum this morning," Padma said, helping herself to some soup. "She said that we're going to India this summer to visit my aunt, uncle and cousins."

"Sounds good," Lisa said. "I'm going to Cornwall to visit my gran."

Terry was, as usual, trying to eat as much as possible.

"Will you bring me a present from India?" he asked through a mouthful of food.

"Don't be so rude!" Lisa said.

Padma smiled, remembering the photograph that he'd given her.

"Of course I will. I'll get you something too, Lisa."

"Thanks," Terry said. "I'm going to try and persuade my dad to take me to at least one Puddlemere game. My mum would love it. She's fascinated by anything that's magic."

Padma laughed and soaked up the conversation, feeling totally contented just to listen as the feast drew on late into the evening.

o0o

Three days later, Padma and the rest of the first years got their exam results back. Although Hermione Granger had come top in every subject, Padma was really pleased with her mark of 105 in History of Magic. She was pleasantly surprised how well she'd done in Herbology; the sessions with Kevin had clearly paid off.

On the final day of the school year Padma was up in the dormitory packing. Morag was trying to spell her clothes into her trunk and fold them neatly, but a flick of her wand only succeeded in sending a stray sock flying across the room. It hit Padma in the face.

"Sorry!" Morag apologised.

Padma tossed the sock back and laughed.

"It's fine!" she smiled. "Good shot, by the way."

Morag giggled. Padma took the photograph of Terry and her down from her desk; the figures were now throwing snow at each other and laughing. She put it carefully on top of her robes and closed her trunk with a snap. Lisa and Mandy were trying to coax Mandy's cat from underneath her bed. Downstairs in the Common Room, Padma could hear Professor Flitwick shouting squeakily for them to make their way downstairs.

"We'd better get going," Mandy said, holding her cat in her arms.

Padma grabbed her trunk and looked sadly around the dormitory. It had been her home for a year and she was going to miss it.

The Ravenclaws headed downstairs and out of Hogwarts, going down to Hogsmede Station in the horseless carriages. Somehow they managed to cram all ten of them into one compartment, but halfway through the journey only Padma, Terry and Lisa remained, the others having disappeared to see other friends or family members.

Some fifth years, in post O.W.L celebrations, set of some Dr Filibuster's No-Heat-Wet-Start Fireworks in the corridors and somehow a lone Catherine wheel managed to get into the compartment Padma was in. She and Lisa spent ten minutes attempting to shoo it out of the window while Terry sat in hysterics, tears in his eyes.

"Thanks for helping," Padma said sarcastically, putting out a fire on her sleeve.

"No problem!" Terry chortled.

Lisa frowned at him. Terry wiped his eyes and took a bag of sweets from his trunk, popping a black one in his mouth. Suddenly flames and smoke sprang from between his lips as he coughed and spluttered.

"Pepper Imp!" he yelled. "My mouth's on fire! Get out of the way!"

He scrambled to his feet and struggled with the door, fleeing down the corridor with smoke pouring from his mouth. Padma and Lisa giggled hysterically.

"He really deserved that!" Padma managed to gasp eventually.

Lisa nodded. When he returned, Terry's face and shirt were dripping with water and he sat down opposite the girls looking fed up.

"What did you do, stick your head under a tap?" Padma teased.

By his silence and stony face, Padma took this assumption to be true. By the time the Hogwarts Express pulled into Platform 9¾ Terry had both dried off and cheered up. The three Ravenclaws headed out onto the crowded platform with their trunks and owls. Padma spotted Parvati over by the gateway; her twin was bidding goodbye to Lavender. When her fellow Gryffindor walked through to Kings Cross, Parvati saw Padma and waved her over.

"You have to write to me over the summer," Lisa said as they walked. "Tell me all about India."

"I promise," Padma said.

"And you have to bring me back a souvenir," Terry said with a grin.

"I promise that too," Padma said.

Across the platform, Michael was shouting for Terry to hurry up. Terry hugged Lisa and Padma tightly.

"I'll write," he said. "Have a nice summer and I'll see you in September."

He hurried off after Michael and they passed through the barrier together. Parvati hurried over to Padma, hugging her tightly.

"Are you excited about going to India?" Parvati asked. "Cousin Hina was asking about you at Christmas. She'll be so happy to see you!"

"I know she was asking about me," Padma said. "Remember the letter?"

"Oh yes…" Parvati said.

They passed through the gateway together, pushing their trolleys and emerging from behind a crowd of Muggles. Padma was glad to see her sister seemed embarrassed.

"So are you looking forward to it?" Lisa asked.

"I am," Padma said, surprised at the answer. "There's mum!"

She spotted her mother standing beneath the sign for Platform 9. Surya Patil was wearing one of her best saris and was talking to a slight woman with blonde hair. She hugged the twins in turn.

"Did you enjoy your first year at Hogwarts?" she asked.

"Yes mum," the twins chorused, grinning at each other.

Lisa was hugging the blonde woman who was clearly her mother. The two wizarding families headed outside to the taxi rank, chatting about the summer holidays. Padma hugged Lisa one last time.

"Don't forget to write," Padma said.

"Same goes for you!" Lisa said with a grin.

"I'll see you at work tomorrow, Cassandra," Padma's mother said to Lisa's. "Come on girls. We'd best get going home."

The three witches got into a black taxi. The driver looked confused about the twins' owls but said nothing as he put the trunks in the boot and handed them Rama and Shiva. Padma looked back towards the station as they pulled out into the road and waved to Lisa before settling in her seat. She was looking forward to her holiday in India, but she was even more excited about starting her second year at Hogwarts.

**Padma's first year at Hogwarts is over – but there's more to come. Read on to see how her summer trip to India goes and what the second year is like at Hogwarts for her. Keep reviewing!**


	12. Indian Summer Part 1

**Chapter 12: Indian Summer - Part 1**

The summer holidays passed slowly for Padma. She and Parvati spent much of their time outside in their small back garden. They sat in the sun talking and laughing more than they had done for a long time. Padma received letters from Lisa telling her about the visit she made to her grandmother in Cornwall, and Terry wrote once, saying that he was going to some Puddlemere United matches with his parents. He also reminded her to bring her back a present from India.

Three weeks into the summer holidays, Padma and her family took a Portkey to India. They were going to visit her father's sister, her Aunt Nisha who had visited at Christmas, her husband, five children and numerous other relatives. Padma was nervous when they arrived as she hadn't seen them in two years, but she was given such a warm welcome that her worries soon disappeared.

They lived in the far north of the country, not far from the Himalayas. The countryside was breathtaking; there were tall grey mountain peaks, hills carpeted with vast trees, and deep valleys with rivers snaking along their bases. Padma's family lived in a small community of wizards on one of the craggy hillsides. Their house was large and airy, built in amongst the trees and hidden from prying eyes. They lived many miles from any other houses or large towns.

One morning, when they had been there for almost two weeks, the family was sitting in the dining room eating breakfast. Hina, a cousin who was the same age as Padma and Parvati, turned to her mother.

"Would we be able to take Padma and Parvati to the Lakshmi Bazaar today?" she asked in English for the twins' benefit.

Aunt Nisha, who was today wearing a scarlet sari and numerous bangles about her wrists, glanced over to her brother. Padma's father nodded shortly, turning back to the Indian version of the Daily Prophet.

"Of course you can," Aunt Nisha said, smiling at her nieces. "Sanjiv," she said, turning to her fourteen year old son, "would you go with your sister and cousins?"

Sanjiv, who was tall with a curtain of black hair and dark eyes, nodded. Hina smiled happily, getting to her feet as her mother went to get them some money. Padma's mother beckoned her daughters over to her. She looked at them seriously.

"You must be careful," she said.

"Of course we will!" Parvati said eagerly.

Surya Patil frowned at her daughter, gripping her shoulder.

"I'm being serious," she said gravely. "Delhi is a dangerous place. There are pickpockets in all areas of the city, not just the Lakshmi Bazaar. There you must be wary of traders and the items that they sell." She paused, looking at them evenly. "Promise me that you will be careful."

Padma and Parvati nodded. Padma smiled, unable to stop the excitement building up inside her. Her mother handed her a purse filled with gold. Padma put it into the pocket of her jeans.

"Now," she said finally, "you may buy some souvenirs, but not too many. And make sure that you stay with your cousins at all times."

The twins nodded again. Their mother hugged them. When she finally let go, Padma hurried over to Sanjiv and Hina who were standing beside the open hearth in the middle of the room.

"How are we getting there?" Padma asked curiously.

"We will Floo to Shimla," Sanjiv explained. He smiled at their puzzled expressions. "It's the nearest town with a train station. There are a couple of wizarding families that my father knows living there, and we're always allowed to use their hearth. After that, we will take the train to Delhi."

Padma smiled at Parvati who looked so excited she could dance. In fact, she was shifting from foot to foot as Aunt Nisha conjured a fire in the hearth. Sanjiv took a handful of Floo powder from a bag his mother held and tossed it onto the flames, turning them emerald green. He stepped into the fire.

"Chandri House!" he cried, and in a flash of green light he was gone.

"You go next, Padma," Aunt Nisha said. She smiled encouragingly.

Padma stepped forward and took a handful of Floo powder, throwing it onto the fire. She stood in the emerald flames, feeling pleasantly warm and tickled by the fire.

"Chandri House!" she said clearly.

Suddenly it felt as if she was being sucked downwards and her world began to spin. Padma pulled her arms close to her body and moved faster, still spinning, trying to ignore the fact that her breakfast was churning in her stomach. Hearths flashed before her eyes and green whirled about her. All of a sudden she hit solid ground and stumbled forward, grateful that hands steadied her when she almost fell.

"Thanks," she said to Sanjiv.

Her older cousin smiled warmly, leading her over to a chair.

"That's fine," he said. "Sit down here, get your balance back and we'll wait for Parvati and Hina to arrive."

Padma sat down and looked around her. They stood in a courtyard that was bathed in sunlight. The open hearth was in the centre, a set of chairs and a table stood to one side and a staircase led up to the roof above. Padma watched as her sister, and then her cousin, appeared in a flash of green fire and stepped out into the courtyard.

"Mr Chandri said that his gardener would take us to the station," Sanjiv said, waiting for Parvati to brush herself down. "He's waiting outside."

He took them through a doorway and down a passageway. The elaborate paintings that hung on the walls watched them as they passed, whispering amongst themselves. Parvati glanced at a mirror that hung by the front door, straightening her hair.

"You look lovely, dear," the mirror said.

Parvati smiled. Padma rolled her eyes and they walked out to the front of the house. The house was tall and rather crooked, built of brick and with immaculately kept plants around the front door. The gardener was a small, wizened looking wizard with a lopsided turban on his head. He bowed deeply to Sanjiv and began to converse rapidly with him in Hindi. Turning, he gestured to a cart that was fastened to what Muggles called a bicycle.

"Hop on!" Hina said, clambering up onto the cart.

Padma followed suit and sat on the back, her legs hanging over the back. The gardener sat on the bicycle and said a word in Hindi. The bicycle's wheels started turning without him pedalling, but he rested his feet on the pedals and held on tightly to the handlebars.

"Why does he do that?" Padma asked curiously.

"Muggles would find it unusual if they saw a bicycle rolling along of its own accord," Hina explained as they rumbled down a narrow street. "This way he's able to use magic and not arouse any suspicion."

Padma nodded. She saw that it made sense; most of the Muggles that they passed were riding these contraptions and by the gardener pretending to pedal, he managed not to stand out in a crowd. It was another clever way of blending in. They eventually reached a main road, and they pulled onto it, narrowly missing a car. After a fifteen minute journey, the gardener pulled up outside a low building.

"This is it," Sanjiv said.

Padma jumped off the back of the cart and stood beside her twin. Sanjiv thanked the gardener in Hindi and took them onto the platform of the station. Padma may have thought that Platform 9¾ was busy, but she'd never seen anywhere as crowded as this station. The train was long, stretching out of sight around the corner, and Padma could hardly move as they pushed their way towards the carriages. What she found most unusual was that many people were clambering up onto the roofs of the carriages and clinging onto the engine.

"Why do they do that?" she asked Sanjiv as they searched for a free compartment.

"What?" he asked. "You mean ride on the outside of the train?" Padma nodded. "It's cheaper than paying for a seat inside," he explained. "It also means that the Muggle government can run fewer trains."

They found an empty compartment and sat down inside, sliding the door closed behind them. Parvati slumped back, fanning herself with a hand while watching a fly buzz around the ceiling. It was small and stuffy, and Padma struggled to open the windows to allow a slight breeze inside. Sanjiv disappeared for a while and returned with bottles of water.

Padma drank some and glanced out of the window as they started to pull away from the station.

"What's your school like?" she asked Hina.

Her cousin's face lit up and she scraped her hair behind her ear, sitting forward on her seat.

"It's amazing!" she said breathlessly. "It's called the Krishna Academy of Wizardry and is somewhere in the mountains to the far north, settled in a deep valley, though I don't know where exactly as it is Unplottable. It's only two floors but it spreads all through the valley, and there are open courtyards filled with plants." She paused. Padma listened, enthralled. "There is no glass in the windows because of the heat in the summer, but there are shutters for the rainy season. We study the stars up on the roof at night, and we often go up to the mountains to watch the phoenixes that live there."

Padma smiled, lost in her cousin's words.

"It sounds amazing," she said, "and so different from Hogwarts."

"Tell me about your school," Hina prompted.

o0o

Padma and Parvati talked about Hogwarts for at least half an hour, describing it in as much detail as they could. For the rest of the two hour journey they talked about their lessons, favourite music and hobbies. The countryside changed into industrial buildings, and then transformed into the tall, modern buildings of New Delhi. Sanjiv looked out of the window as they started to slow down.

"We're here," he said. "Come on."

As the train ground to a halt, Padma and Parvati followed their cousins out of the train and onto the platform. It was bustling with people; they cried out to each other in a myriad of languages, jostled their way to the exits and hauled their luggage around, and Padma even saw a man with a monkey perched upon his shoulder. Sanjiv led them down a set of steps and out onto the street.

New Delhi was bustling and Padma was hit by so many different sights and sounds at the same time. Sanjiv stuck out his hand and a Muggle vehicle pulled up. It was brightly coloured with two bench seats underneath a canvas roof, and there was what Padma was sure was called a motorcycle attached to it.

"What's this?" Parvati asked, clambering onto the seat next to Padma.

"An auto-rickshaw," Hina said. "You'd better hold on tight."

Padma soon found out why her cousin had said this. The ride was a hair-raising experience as the driver wove in and out of traffic, seemingly unconcerned about either his own safety or that of his passengers. Parvati screamed and clung onto her twin's arm as they swerved to avoid a cow that was standing serenely in the middle of the road.

"This is worse than the Knight Bus!" she said, looking rather green.

Padma nodded, yet again able to feel her breakfast churning in her stomach. Eventually they pulled up in a narrow road that was lined with different stalls selling everything from mounds of spices to antiques and watches. Padma helped her sister stumble from the rickshaw as Sanjiv paid the driver with some Muggle money.

"This way," Sanjiv said shortly.

They followed him a little was along the narrow road, stopping next to an old, crumbling wall that was carved with intricate designs on the top. It was flanked by a cobbler's stall on one side and another antique stall on the other, and was covered with posters of brightly clothed Muggles who looked out onto the street.

"Follow my lead," Sanjiv said.

He stepped up to the wall and leant up against it, looking both ways as the Muggles passed by him in crowds. Suddenly he slipped through the wall and out of sight. Padma tried not to stare and she nudged Parvati with her elbow.

"It's just like the barrier between the platforms at Kings Cross!" she hissed.

Padma walked over to the wall, passing the path of an old man carrying a crate of chickens under one arm, and she put her hand on the wall, pretending to examine one of the posters. She took a deep breath and stepped through it, gasping at what she saw on the other side.


	13. Indian Summer Part 2

**Chapter 13: Indian Summer – Part 2**

The Lakshmi Bazaar was like Diagon Alley, except it seemed to be so much more crowded, colourful and full of sights and sounds. Tall, ancient buildings reached up on either side, and their fronts opened up as shops and stalls. The sounds of music, loud conversations and the shouting of vendors washed over Padma. She walked over to Sanjiv, trying to take everything in. The Indian witches and wizards wore bright colours that seemed to shine in the sunlight; many of the witches wore saris and the wizards wore long robes, their hats generally replaced by turbans.

"It's amazing!" Padma said.

Behind her, she heard a gasp that she guessed was Parvati. She turned around and found that Sanjiv and Hina were smiling at each other, clearly amused at their amazement.

"Should we have a look around?" Hina asked.

The four of them walked down the long, winding street on the packed dirt road. They passed by the Delhi branch of Flourish and Blotts, a wide open fronted building that seemed to be a Gringotts bank and numerous local shops selling Indian wares. Parvati pointed out a wizard who was snake charming, and Padma watched as a saleswizard demonstrated a flying carpet to a large crowd of witches and wizards.

Padma ducked as a young wizard accidentally threw a Frisbee that screamed in the direction of her head. She spotted a small shop with a canopy that sold what seemed to be second hand books.

"Can we go and have a look there?"

Sanjiv nodded. Padma hurried over, looking for something that she could buy for Terry or Lisa as a present. She went inside the shop, finding it to be dim and musty, lit by globes of light that floated about the low ceiling. An ancient witch was examining a book that was the thickness of a brick and the owner of the shop, a young, brightly dressed witch, was leaning over the table at the front of the shop attempting to reach a specific tome.

Padma browsed for a while, eventually finding a book about Indian beasts that was written in both Hindi and English. She bought it for Terry and it was wrapped up in brown paper for her. Parvati and her cousins stood outside.

"I've found the best shop ever!" Parvati said excitedly, grabbing Padma's wrist.

She dragged Padma over to a shop around the corner. It had piles of teacups and teapots outside and there were boxes of different herbs and teas on the table at the front. Inside was warm with a sweet smell hanging on the air, and Padma found herself looking around at lunarscopes, scrolls with phases of the moon on them and burners giving off clouds of pungent smoke.

"It has all of the Divination supplies you'd ever want!" Parvati said.

Padma picked up a book that seemed to be telling the reader a thousand ways to interpret the leaves, and she rolled her eyes; this was definitely not her idea of the best shop ever. Parvati picked up a silver teapot that was engraved with writing that moved around the surface.

"Do you think grandmother would like this?"

"Of course she will," Padma said, trying to keep the bitterness from her voice. "Are you going to get Lavender something?"

Parvati nodded and held up the book Padma had been looking at. Padma headed outside. Hina was waving her over to a shop that was selling mountains of sweets. There were mounds of traditional Indian sweets as well as all of the usual wizard's sweets; Liquorice Wands, Chocolate Frogs and Fizzing Whizbees. Padma bought some Chocolate Frogs, which had cards with mainly Indian wizards on them, as well as some Indian sweets, for both Terry and Lisa.

For the rest of the morning they browsed the Lakshmi Bazaar, enjoying the sights, sounds and sun.

o0o

"Do you want to go to the tea shop for lunch?" Sanjiv asked about two hours later.

The three girls nodded. Padma heard her stomach rumble.

"Where is it?" she asked.

He pointed over to a large shop that had a silver teapot sign hanging over the doorway. Inside it was small and cool with round tables to sit at. The lamps on the walls were covered with silk scarves, casting multicoloured light over the room, and there were paintings of famous Indian witches and wizards. Sanjiv came over to their table carrying a plate of food and some tea. As she ate, Padma looked around the room. There were a couple of witches talking and laughing loudly, and a wizard in the corner smoked a pipe that was so long that it rested on the tiled floor.

"Do you want to buy anything else?" Hina asked as she sipped on her tea.

"I just want to get one more thing for my friend," Padma said, "something interesting and unique."

"I know where to go for that," Sanjiv said. "What about you, Parvati?"

"I'd like to buy some jewellery."

"I'll take you," Hina said, standing up. "We'll meet you back at the gateway in half and hour."

They walked out of the shop, leaving some money on the table, and Padma and Sanjiv headed further down the Lakshmi Bazaar. Padma tried not to stare when she saw a wizard climbing up a rope that floated in the air and Sanjiv steered her towards a ramshackle shop.

It was small and cramped, packed full of all sorts of unusual items. There were tarnished lamps, piles of dusty books, paintings, and Padma was sure that she saw a stuffed baby dragon that seemed to watch her as she passed. The wizard who owned the shop stepped forwards, bowing so deeply that his turban wobbled dangerously.

"How can I help you?" he said in English with a thick accent.

"I'm looking for a present for my friend," Padma explained. "Something interesting," she continued, "maybe with a fascinating history."

The wizard disappeared for a moment, returning with an intricate clock. It was clearly ancient, the face decorated with a moving universe, and there was a golden phoenix perched on the top.

"What about this?" the wizard asked. "It was created two hundred years ago by a great Indian watchmaker."

"Maybe not," Padma said, "I'm looking for something smaller, really."

The shop owner nodded and searched around for a moment, pulling out a carved phoenix. It was made of ivory and had small red eyes that seemed to watch Padma intently. She took it and examined it closely.

"It's beautiful," she said softly.

"It used to have certain interesting properties," the wizard explained. "When it was placed in front of a certain item, it would guard it, keeping it out of sight. I do not think it works now."

"It doesn't matter," Padma said, "it's fantastic. How much?"

"Five Galleons."

Padma handed over the money. The wizard put it into a velvet line box and wrapped it in paper, bowing low again as he handed it over to Padma. She and Sanjiv left the shop, heading towards the gateway. Parvati and Hina stood by the wall, carrying several multicoloured bags in their arms.

"We have to go now," Sanjiv said. "After all, you two are leaving at nightfall."

Yet again they had another manic rickshaw ride and they reached the station, Padma feeling rather sick. The train ride was long and hot, but they shared some of the sweets they had bought and compared their purchases.

They stepped out onto the platform two hours later and found the gardener standing with his cart again, smiling toothlessly at them and waving them over. As they travelled back to Chandri House, Padma turned to her sister.

"So what did you get?" she asked.

Parvati pulled a handful of gold bangles out of one of the bags, showing them to Padma, and also had a pair of gold drop earrings on her palm.

"What do you think?"

"They're beautiful," Padma said as they trundled down a narrow street.

"And this is for you," Parvati said with a smile.

She handed her twin sister a silver bangle. Padma smiled warmly, slipping it onto her wrist. She admired it in the sun and hugged Parvati tightly.

"Thank you!"

Eventually they reached Chandri House. In the courtyard, Sanjiv handed Padma a box of Floo powder as the gardener started a fire in the grate. Padma threw the Floo powder into the fire, turning the flames emerald green. She stepped into the fire.

"Phoenix House!"

For the second time in a day she felt as though she was being sucked downwards, spinning madly. Padma stumbled out of the grate at her aunt's house, finding her family gathering about on the floor for the evening meal. Her mother came over and hugged her.

"Did you have a good time?"

Padma nodded and started to describe everything that she saw in as much detail as she could. Soon Parvati, Hina and Sanjiv stepped out of the hearth, joining them for dinner. The whole family was there; Padma's parents, her aunt and uncle, five cousins, her grandmother and her great aunt Sita. Parvati and Padma sat side by side, watching as their aunt and an older cousin brought out mountains of food.

The sound of talking and laughter rose up around the courtyard. Padma's father and her uncle were talking about work, Uncle Pradeep explaining about his position in the Indian Ministry of Magic and international relations. Surya was telling her sister in law about what work she did, while Padma's grandmother talked to her sister, Padma' great aunt Sita, in Hindi.

At the end of the meal, Aunt Nisha brought in a teapot, sending it floating over to each of the family's cups with a wave of her wand. Padma drank slowly, enjoying the atmosphere of the occasion.

"Why don't you read one of your cousins' cups, Parvati," grandmother suggested.

"Yes, grandmother."

Parvati looked very pleased with herself and took Sanjiv's cup from him. Padma watched as her twin turned the cup around in her hands, carefully examining the contents.

"I see great accomplishments and happiness in this cup," she said, "but you also have certain trials to overcome in the next year."

"May I see?" her grandmother asked. She took the cup and examined it closely. "Yes, that seems to be correct," she said with a warm smile.

"Would you read my leaves, Padma?" one of her younger cousins asked.

Padma felt her mouth dry. She glanced quickly at Parvati who bit her lower lip, looking sympathetic.

"I can't read the leaves," she explained quietly. "I don't have the Sight."

"But I thought that all of our family could See."

Padma shook her head and got up from the floor.

"Excuse me, please," she said.

She hurried over to the stairs that led up to the roof that overlooked the mountains in the distance. Padma walked over to the wall and leant up against it, sighing.

Yet again she had been made to feel small and insignificant in front of her family. She knew that her cousin hadn't meant it, but saying that everyone else had Sight made her feel as though she was incomplete or didn't fit in. Padma sniffed back tears and played with the bangle Parvati had given her, spinning it around her wrist.

"Are you all right?"

Hina walked over to Padma, standing next to her. Padma shrugged.

"I don't know," she said. "I thought that everything was going so well with this visit. And then this goes and happens. It always does. And at home, grandmother is always trying to persuade me to be more like Parvati."

"I know the feeling," Hina said with a wry smile. "Great Aunt Sita is the same with me. I never showed any interest in the traditional practices. They're just not accurate enough for me."

"I've got the same opinion," Padma said.

The two girls smiled. Padma felt better and looked out over the countryside, watching as the sun began to sink down behind the trees.

"Don't worry about it," Hina said. "No matter what grandmother or Great Aunt Sita say, not all of us have Sight. And most of the predictions are pretty mundane; nothing earth shattering."

"Thanks Hina," Padma said, hugging her cousin tightly.

"We'd best get downstairs."

Back in the courtyard, everyone was clearing away. Padma's grandmother sat talking to her sister, and Parvati stood up, hurrying over to her twin. Hina smiled and headed off to another part of the house.

"I'm so sorry!" Parvati said, looking apologetic. "I didn't mean to show you up in front of everyone. I only read Sanjiv's leaves because they asked me to. I…"

"It's fine," Padma interrupted. "I know you didn't mean it. These things just happen."

Parvati looked relieved and hugged Padma quickly.

"We're going now!"

Padma's mother stood with their father, their trunks on the floor behind them. The entire family lined up to say goodbye, hugging and kissing them all. At the end of the line, Hina handed Padma and Parvati a photograph each in a simple frame; it showed the entire family standing outside the house, smiling and waving happily.

"Thank you!" Padma said, hugging her cousin again.

"Don't forget to write to us," Parvati told Hina who nodded.

Padma's father put a cracked vase onto the floor.

"I pulled some strings at the Ministry to make a Portkey," he explained with a smile. He pulled out his wand. "Portus!" The vase shuddered momentarily and glowed blue.

Padma touched the rim of the vase. Her father grabbed one of the trunks, her mother another, and they both touched the vase with their free hands. Parvati and her grandmother did the same.

"Goodbye!" Hina shouted.

"Three, two…" Parmesh counted.

Before he could even say 'one', there was a tug behind Padma's navel and she felt as if she was being wrenched forwards. Her family's farewells rang in her head as they flew through nothingness, knocking against one another with their fingers attached to the vase.

Padma stumbled forwards into their living room, steadying her grandmother who was about to plunge forward into the sofa. She smiled gratefully at Padma, heading off into the kitchen and muttering something about the perils of travelling by Portkey under her breath. Padma rolled her eyes. She headed upstairs, following her mother and sister.

In her room, her mother had opened one of the trunks, unpacking with her wand. Padma watched as a pair of her socks flew through the air, folding themselves as they went, and dropped neatly into her drawers. Parvati was lying slumped on her bed.

"Did you enjoy yourselves then?" her mother asked.

"Most of it was great," Padma said, sitting down on the edge of her bed.

"Good," her mother said, smiling warmly. She left the room.

Padma knelt down beside her trunk, retrieving her souvenirs from the bottom. Parvati disappeared downstairs to give her grandmother the silver teapot, leaving Padma alone in the bedroom. Padma got up and put the photograph from Hina on her bedside table, next to the one of her and Terry. She stacked her presents for Terry and Lisa next to them.

She would give them to her best friends when they went back to school on the 1st of September. At the thought of Hogwarts, Padma smiled and lay back on her bed. She'd enjoyed her summer holidays immensely, but she was unable and unwilling to silence the large part of her that couldn't wait to get back to school.


	14. Magical Me

**I'm sorry that there's been such an enormous gap between the last chapter and this one. I've been very busy with work for college and hardly seem to have a chance to write anything any more. But I'm still planning everything out for Padma and I hope to be able to update a bit more regularly. As an apology, this chapter is extra long! Keep reading and reviewing, and please be patient – there are many more chapters to come :) **

**Chapter 14: Magical Me**

Two weeks after they returned from India, Padma and Parvati's Hogwarts letter arrived. This year all they needed was the _Standard Book of Spells: Grade 2 _and just about the entire collection of Gilderoy Lockhart's books. He was a famous celebrity in the wizarding world, having travelled the world and written many books on his adventures, as well as winning numerous awards from _Witch Weekly _for his smile. Parvati seemed to think that he was quite good looking. Then again, so did the twins' grandmother.

The evening that they received their letters, Padma sat on her bed reading the book that Terry had got her for Christmas. Parvati lay on the floor between their two beds. She was writing a letter to Lavender and chewed on the end of her quill, her foot bobbing along to the latest Weird Sisters' song on the wireless. After the trip to India, this was the perfect way to relax.

There was a fluttering of wings and a small tawny owl swooped in through the window. It dropped a letter at Padma's side and settled on the perch in the corner of the bedroom, nudging Rama aside to have a drink. Padma picked up the envelope and recognised Terry's neat handwriting on the front.

"Who's that from?" Parvati asked curiously.

Padma ripped open the envelope and pulled out a sheet of parchment.

_Dear Padma,_

_How was your time in India this summer? I'm sure you had a great time. Learning about Indian magic must have been fascinating. And I hope you remembered to bring me back a present. _

_I've been to a couple of Puddlemere games with Mum and Dad. Mum thought that it was great but a bit brutal – personally I think that's the best thing about Quidditch – and she nearly fainted when the Harpies' Seeker was hit in the face by a Bludger. _

_I'm going to Diagon Alley this week. Do you want to meet up to buy our schoolbooks?_

_From Terry_

_P.S I bet you've done much more homework than you were meant to._

Padma smiled as she looked up from the parchment.

"It's from Terry."

Parvati rolled her eyes and chewed thoughtfully on her quill.

"What did he want?"

"Just to know how India was," Padma said, refolding the parchment. "And if I wanted to meet him in Diagon Alley to buy our school things."

Parvati looked up at her twin and smiled.

"Sounds like a date to me."

"Don't be so stupid," Padma retorted sharply. "You know he's just my friend. And you remember how much trouble you caused last time saying things like that!"

Parvati frowned. At an icy stare from her twin, she pressed her lips together and turned back to her parchment.

"Fine. Be that way if you must."

"Dinner is ready, girls!"

Padma put away the letter and hurried down the stairs after her sister. Her grandmother and father sat in the dining room, while her mother dished food out onto the plates. She still wore her St Mungos robes and her hair was falling down from its usually immaculate twist.

"I was rushed off my feet today!" she said, spooning rice onto Padma's plate. "I only had a few minutes to whip all of this food up. You won't believe how many wizards are foolish enough to allow their children near their cauldrons!" she said to her husband, "I had a girl in today whose hands were as big as balloons. Her mother let her play around a batch of Swelling Solution, for goodness' sake!"

She eventually stopped babbling on and took her seat, Summoning a bottle of wine from the sideboard. Padma pushed her chicken around her plate.

"Can we go to Diagon Alley next week," she said.

"Of course we can!" her mother said, smiling warmly. "Goodness, I almost forgot that you're both back at Hogwarts at the start of September!"

Padma's grandmother peered curiously at her daughter-in-law.

"You haven't come into contact with a Babbling Brew, have you Surya?"

"No. Why do you ask?"

The old witch raised an eyebrow and turned back to her food.

"Never mind, dear."

Across the table, Parvati snorted into her water and tried to disguise it as a sneeze. Padma grinned momentarily until her twin said innocently,

"Is it alright if she meets up with Terry?"

Padma could almost see her grandmother's ears prick up, but the Indian witch continued to chew thoughtfully. Despite her casual attitude, she was clearly interested. Her mother glanced up from her food momentarily.

"Of course you can," she said with a smile. "I'll take you and Parvati to Diagon Alley at noon next Wednesday. I've got the day off."

Padma exhaled slowly, relieved that her grandmother hadn't said anything. But she had clearly relaxed too quickly.

"So who is this Terry boy?" her grandmother asked, helping herself to a goblet of wine.

Padma wished that she was of age so she could jinx Parvati, but instead she turned to her grandmother and smiled. The Indian witch smiled back, a glint of interest in her eye.

"So who is he?" she repeated firmly.

It sounded as though she was about to set off on one of her inquisitions where Padma was closely scrutinised. Padma had to tread very carefully.

"He's one of my best friends and is in my house at Hogwarts," she said simply.

"Isn't he the boy that your sister and Hina were talking about at Christmas?"

Padma nodded shortly, feeling anger well up at her throat.

"Yes he is," she said truthfully, "but what Parvati said is untrue. He's just my friend; that and nothing more." She breathed heavily through her nose for a moment. "May I be excused?"

Her mother nodded shortly. Padma got up from the table, hearing Parvati sweetly ask her mother if she could meet with Lavender on Wednesday. Padma tried to ignore this and hurried back up to her room, throwing herself down on her bed. She stared at the blue and green patchwork for a moment before rolling over onto her back and glaring at the ceiling, allowing the annoyance to subside. She eventually got up and grabbed some parchment, ink and her quill, writing a reply to Terry.

_Dear Terry,_

_India was fantastic (even though I thought it was going to be terrible!) and I really enjoyed myself. The magic that they use is so different from ours, and I wish that we'd had homework on foreign wizardry to do – I could have written about twenty scrolls on all I've learnt. Don't worry; I managed to buy you a souvenir while I was here as well._

_My mum is going to take Parvati and me to Diagon Alley next Wednesday. She says that we can meet you in the Leaky Cauldron at noon. I'm really looking forward to starting back at Hogwarts, though I wonder why we've been set the Lockhart books this year. He's not really a world authority on Defence Against the Dark Arts, is he? I bet the new professor is a huge fan of his. _

_I'll see you on Wednesday,_

_From Padma _

She rolled the parchment up and called Rama down from his perch in the corner of the room.

"I want you to take this to Terry," she said warmly, stroking the tawny feathers gently. "I'm sure he'll give you plenty of Owl Treats if you get there really quickly."

Padma walked over to the window and threw it open, allowing the warm summer air to fill the bedroom and the sound of the traffic of the suburbs to wash around her ears. She watched the sun dipping down over the rooftops for a moment before letting Rama soar off into the sky, and she only turned back when he became a tiny dot above the chimney pots.

o0o

The next Wednesday, Padma and Parvati sat at the dining table, waiting for their mother to come downstairs and take them through the Floo Network to the Leaky Cauldron. Padma read the _Daily Prophet _while her sister was looking at her star charts in _Witch Weekly_, making careful note of what her fate would be for the next month.

"You hold too much faith in those things," Padma commented, looking over the top of the newspaper.

Parvati rolled her eyes.

"I don't know what your problem is with them," she snapped. "Just because you don't trust anything you can't learn in your dusty old books, it doesn't mean that other people can't use them if they want to."

Padma was about to retort but her grandmother came into the room. Meera wrapped a shawl about her thin shoulders and took her enormous carpet bag from the floor, bending to kiss the twins on their foreheads.

"Have a lovely time at Madam Marchbanks' house," Parvati said brightly.

"I'll try," her grandmother replied, "and I'll be fine as long as she doesn't insist on boring me with more tales about all of the ridiculous things Hogwarts students do in their O.W.L.s!"

With that she hurried out of the back door, heading for the lane where she would catch the Knight Bus. Padma's mother hurried down the stairs, attempting to spell her hair up into its usual knot and check her handbag at the same time. She grabbed a silver casket from the mantelpiece and handed it to Parvati, lighting a fire in the grate with her wand.

"Hurry up," she said, pulling her cloak about her shoulders. "You don't want to be late for your friends, do you?"

Padma pulled on her cloak before taking a handful of Floo powder from the silver box and throwing it into the flames. She watched as they turned emerald green.

"Now, don't talk to anyone you don't know when you arrive," her mother said, checking through her handbag again. "Just sit down and wait for your sister and I to arrive."

Padma nodded and stooped to step into the fireplace, feeling the flames lick about her legs. She tried not to breath in any ash and said clearly,

"The Leaky Cauldron!"

It felt as though she was being spun around and, as she twisted madly, Padma could glimpse fireplaces flashing past and hear snatches of conversation. She was relieved when she was eventually thrown out of the fireplace and stumbled out into the Leaky Cauldron. As her head stopped spinning, she noticed that the smoky pub was even more crowded than usual. At every table there seemed to be a group of witches who were chattering excitedly and keeping the barkeep very busy.

Padma sat down and watched as her twin and then her mother stepped out of the fireplace and into the pub.

"Why are there so many witches in here?" Padma asked her mother.

"I'm not sure," Surya replied. "Have you seen Terry yet?"

Padma shook her head. Suddenly a scream cut through the air and Lavender Brown appeared through the crowds of witches, throwing herself at Parvati.

"How were your holidays?" she asked excitedly. "Did you learn more about reading the leaves and…" she trailed off as Surya cleared her throat noisily. "…I'm Lavender Brown, Mrs Patil. It's very nice to meet you."

Padma stopped herself from giggling at the girl's nervousness and instead glanced around the pub again, hoping to spot Terry. Parvati finished introducing her mother and turned to Padma.

"…and you remember my sister Padma."

Lavender glanced at Padma for a moment then smiled warmly.

"Oh yes, I remember. I met you at Christmas, didn't I?"

"Yes," Padma said, forcing a warm smile. "It's nice to see you again."

"Can we go and get our school things now?" Parvati asked.

"Of course you can." Padma's mother handed over a purse full of gold. "Now make sure that you're both back by four."

"Of course, Mrs Patil," Lavender said politely before Parvati dragged her off into the crowds.

Padma couldn't see them, but she could tell where they were by the giggling and she rolled her eyes, wondering why on earth the two girls were in Gryffindor. She looked around the pub again. Her mother smiled warmly at her.

"I'm sure he'll get here soon," she said encouragingly. Padma nodded. "What's Terry like, then?"

Taken slightly aback by the question, Padma stared at her mother for a moment. She came back to her senses and smiled.

"Well…he's one of my best friends," she explained hesitantly. "He's…intelligent and funny and…just a really nice person."

There was a moment of silence.

"He sounds like a lovely boy," her mother said finally.

"He is," Padma said with a smile. She glanced up as she heard someone shout her name and stood up, waving to them. "Terry!"

Her fellow Ravenclaw pushed his way through the crowds, closely followed by a tall man with a thin face and tan hair and a shorter woman whose eyes were the same bright blue as Terry's. Padma strongly suspected they were his parents. All three of them wore Muggle clothes, although Mr Boot had a cloak fastened about his narrow shoulders.

"What a crush!" Terry exclaimed, smiling broadly. "There's not enough room to swing a kneazle in here! I wonder what all these witches are here for."

"Gilderoy Lockhart is doing a signing of his new autobiography," Mrs Boot said excitedly. "I read it in the Daily Prophet this morning. I'm Amanda, by the way," she added, shaking Surya's hand. "Anyway, I managed to persuade Edward to buy me all of Lockhart's books for Christmas. After all, as a Muggle you can never know too much about the wizarding world!"

"Quite true," Padma's mother said kindly.

"It's very nice to meet you, Mrs Patil," Terry said, offering his hand. She took it and shook it, looking slightly taken aback.

"Nice to meet you too, Terry. Would you like to join me for dinner," she asked his parents.

Mr Boot took off his cloak and hung it neatly over the back of a chair.

"That would be lovely," he replied. "Terry, make sure that you're both back by three. And don't go wandering off the main street."

Terry nodded.

"Come on Padma."

The two Ravenclaws headed out of the Leaky Cauldron, leaving Mrs Boot to quiz Padma's mother about being a Healer. They joined a crowd of excited witches and headed out onto Diagon Alley, eventually managing to escape the throng.

They walked down Diagon Alley, heading into a shop that sold quills, ink and parchment. Inside was cool and quiet and there were rolls of parchment hanging off shelves, graded according to quality, colour and price. Terry paused at a shelf full of different inks, picking up a pale grey bottle and examining it.

"I've always wanted some of this," he said, smiling. "It's Vanishing Ink. More of a joke item, really. I would have thought they would have stocked it in Gambol and Japes."

Padma rolled her eyes and turned back to examining a Quick-Quotes Quill. She dug into her cloak as Terry finished paying for his ink.

"This is for you," she said, handing him a rather crumpled paper bag. "It's from India. I remembered, though you really didn't let me forget with your letters."

Terry took the bag.

"You really didn't have to…" he started.

"Don't say that!" Padma grinned. "I might just take them back!"

Terry laughed and opened the bag. He examined the book and sweets with a smile across his face, then looked up, still grinning.

"Thanks, Padma!" He looked at her for a moment. "So do you want to go and get our books?"

He held open the door for a frail looking witch and the two of them walked over to Flourish and Blotts. It seemed as though Terry's mother had been correct. All of the witches from the Leaky Cauldron seemed to be congregating outside the bookshop and there was a banner hung across the upper windows reading:

GILDEROY LOCKHART

will be signing copies of his autobiography

MAGICAL ME

today 12.20 – 4:30pm

"You a fan of Lockhart?" Terry asked Padma. She shook her head. "Thank goodness for that. I can't stand the flowery git! What makes it worse is that my mum seems to fancy him!"

"Parvati and my grandmother are the same," Padma commented, "sadly."

The two Ravenclaws managed to squeeze their way into the crowded shop. Padma avoided being stood on by a rather stout witch and dodged to one side as another witch moved past, a complete set of Lockhart's books in her arms. Terry grabbed hold of Padma's hand and dragged her to one side, eventually reaching the stairs to the upper level. The two of them hung over the banister.

"There's Parvati and Lavender," Padma commented.

The Gryffindors were standing at the front of the crowd. Parvati clutched a copy of _Magical Me _to her chest and Lavender was jumping up and down, attempting to catch a glimpse of the famous Gilderoy Lockhart. He entered the room, smiling at the crowd and adjusting his forget-me-not blue robes. A photographer was snapping away at Lockhart and the crowds were chattering away until Lockhart said,

"It _can't_ be Harry Potter?"

All of a sudden the crowds parted and all conversations ceased. Lockhart dived forward, grabbed Harry seemingly out of nowhere and dragged him up to the table where he'd been sitting. The crowds applauded. Padma watched as Harry had his photograph taken with Lockhart by the Daily Prophet photographer. His face was a vivid shade of crimson.

"Don't you feel sorry for him sometimes?" Padma asked Terry.

"I don't know," Terry whispered back as Lockhart spoke. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, fame can't always be a good thing. He always seems to be dragged around by people who want him to be a celebrity." Padma paused and looked at Harry. "I don't think I would like it."

"I've never thought about it that way," Terry said quietly.

Down on the shop floor, Harry seemed to be clamped to Lockhart's side by the wizard's arm. Lockhart was giving a long winded speech.

"…ladies and gentlemen," Lockhart said excitedly, "I have great pleasure and pride in announcing that this September, I will be taking up the post of Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"

Next to Padma, Terry groaned dramatically. The rest of the crowds downstairs, however, clapped and cheered enthusiastically. Terry headed up the stairs as Harry was presented with Lockhart's complete works. Padma followed him.

"No wonder those books were set!" Terry said angrily, picking a copy of _Fantastic Beast and Where to Find Them _off a shelf. "Lockhart's just a self indulgent, flowery git!"

"You really don't like him, do you?" Padma commented with a wry grin.

Terry was just about to reply when he spotted someone across the shop and waved at them, replacing the book on the shelf. Michael Corner and Anthony Goldstein walked over, both of them seeming to have grown, and Anthony looked very tanned. He shook hands with Terry before turning to Padma. He pushed his glasses back up his nose and smiled weakly at her.

"You, er…look very well, Padma," he stuttered before disappearing around a bookshelf.

Padma looked curiously at Terry who shrugged before turning back to discuss Quidditch with Michael. Anthony eventually emerged from behind the bookshelf with a book covering his face. From what Padma could see, his face seemed to have gone a shade of maroon and the copy of _Advanced Theories of Alchemy _he held was upside down.

"Are you coming?" Padma asked Terry. "I need to go and buy some ingredients for Potions, and then I want to go to the second hand bookshop."

"Alright," Terry said. "We'll see you on the first of September then."

"See you later, mate," Michael said. "Bye Padma."

Anthony peered over the top of the upside down book.

"Bye Terry," he said. He said no farewell to Padma, only disappeared behind the book again.

Padma frowned and headed down to the front desk. The crowds of excited witches had dispersed slightly but Lockhart was still signing copies of his autobiographies, surrounded by smiling photographs of himself. Terry glared at the wizard briefly while Padma paid for the schoolbooks that she had grabbed from a table of Lockhart's works.

"I'm going to hate Defence Against the Dark Arts this year," he muttered.

"Forget Lockhart," Padma said with a grin. "Come on, I'll buy you an ice cream to take your mind off him."

"Alright," Terry said grudgingly, but a smile played at the corner of his lips.

The two of them headed out of Flourish and Blotts, heading for Florean Fortescue's for some ice cream in the sunshine.

o0o

By four o'clock, Padma had managed to get all of her school things, along with a couple of second hand books for extra reading. She found her mother sitting in the Leaky Cauldron with Terry's parents. The three of them were sipping on glasses of mulled mead and chatting animatedly. Terry's mum beckoned her son over.

"Look at what I bought." She showed Terry a copy of _Magical Me_. "And I got it signed by Lockhart himself. Isn't it fantastic?"

"Of course it is, mum," Terry agreed grudgingly. His father looked torn between being amused and embarrassed.

Soon enough Parvati arrived, her hands full of bags.

"Lavender met up with her parents at Madame Malkins," she explained to her mother. She smiled briefly at Padma in a silent greeting. "Mum, I got the most amazing book on the leaves for grandmother…"

"I think we'd best head off home now," Surya interjected, rising from her seat. Parvati pouted but promptly Flooed home. "It was very nice to meet you Edward, Amanda," she said to Terry's parents, shaking their hands before pulling on her cloak. "Padma, say goodbye to Terry then come straight home."

Padma shook hands with Terry's parents as her mother disappeared in a flash of emerald flames.

"It was nice to meet you," she said politely.

"And it was lovely to finally meet you," Mrs Boot said, beaming. "Terry has told us ever so much about you, Padma. He always seems to be talking about you; why, only the other day he said…"

"Mum!" Terry hissed.

Padma grinned at him and he smiled back shyly.

"Come along, Amanda," Mr Boot said to his wife. "We'll meet you outside, Terry."

Padma watched them leave and turned to Terry. He smiled at her and hugged her tightly, drawing away with a tinge of a blush on his cheeks.

"It was great to see you again," he said, "and thanks for the presents. They're fantastic."

"That's alright," Padma said. She gathered up her bags. "Well, I'll see you on the first of September then."

She headed over to the fireplace and threw a handful of Floo powder into the flames, watching them turn emerald green. Stepping into the flames she turned and waved to Terry before crying out,

"23 Elm Row!"

When she eventually stumbled out of the fireplace at home, feeling slightly dizzy, she headed straight upstairs to her room. She put away her things and lay on her bed, wondering what had made Anthony's face go that interesting shade of maroon in Flourish and Blotts.


	15. Return to Hogwarts

**Chapter 15: Return to Hogwarts**

On the morning of the first of September, Padma woke early. Across the room, by the door, Parvati was sound asleep, her red and pink quilt pulled up over her head. Padma carefully chose the books that she wanted to take back to Hogwarts with her, laying them carefully on top of her collected works of Lockhart in her trunk. She glanced around the room, looking for anything else she wanted to take with her. Her eyes settled on the picture of her and Terry from last year. She carefully wrapped it in her blue and bronze scarf and packed it in between _Gadding with Ghouls _and _Break with a Banshee_, closing her trunk with a loud snap.

That seemed to rouse Parvati from her slumber. She threw her quilt back off her head and sat bolt upright, her hair tousled. She yawned widely.

"Morning Padma," she said, stifling another yawn. "What's the time?"

"Nine," Padma said shortly. She bent down beside her bed, checking that she hadn't left anything underneath. "I knew I'd forgotten something…"

"Nine o' clock?" Parvati cried shrilly. "I've only got fifteen minutes to get ready!" She moaned and scrambled out of bed, dashing for the bedroom door. "Mum! Can you do my hair for me?"

Padma suppressed a smile and opened her trunk, putting the quill that she'd found underneath her bed inside. Then she set about finding her twin's belongings and packing her trunk for her. After she retrieved several books on Divination that were scattered about the bedroom, Padma closed Parvati's trunk and stood up.

"Come on, Rama."

She held out her arm and the eagle owl swooped down from his perch, landing gently on Padma's arm. After putting Rama into his cage, Padma took her trunk and her owl downstairs, leaving them both by the front door.

Downstairs, Padma's grandmother sat in her favourite chair by the window in the living room. She read a copy of _Divination Monthly _and her knitting was working in front of her, the needles flashing as they moved.

"Good morning, Padma." The old witch's voice was rather curt. She was still annoyed with how her granddaughter had spoken to her about a certain boy in Ravenclaw.

"Good morning, grandmother."

Padma sat down at the dining room table and grabbed a slice of toast. Her father had left earlier for work and the _Daily Prophet _was propped up between the toast rack and the teapot, next to a half empty cup of tea. Padma's mother sat at one end of the table sipping on a cup of tea. She was wearing Muggle clothes this morning but her hair was still up in its usual knot.

"Good morning, Padma."

"Morning, Mum," Padma said through a mouthful of toast. She swallowed before continuing. "Aren't you going to work today?"

"I'm going in after you've left for Hogwarts. Cassandra Turpin and I are going to Apparate in after you and Lisa have left." She paused to take another sip of tea. "Where's your sister?"

Parvati burst into the dining room, dragging her trunk and a hooting, caged Shiva behind her. She collapsed onto a chair and took a slice of toast. At the sound of a horn from outside she jumped slightly.

"That's the taxi," their mother said. "Come on and gather up your things. You know how bad the Muggle traffic is on a morning. Say goodbye to your grandmother."

Padma grabbed her jacket as Parvati hugged her grandmother, kissing her on the cheek. The old witch glanced over at Padma, smiling, although the smile didn't seem to reach her eyes.

"Goodbye, Padma."

"Goodbye, grandmother," Padma said quietly.

She picked up Rama in his cage and pulled her trunk behind her as they headed out of the house. The taxi driver put the trunks into the boot and, looking rather confused, placed the owls onto the back seat. Padma stood at the front gate for a moment as her mother and sister got into the taxi. She looked up to the living room window where her grandmother was sitting, staring resolutely out of the window, though her eyes were fixed on the opposite side of the road.

"Come on, Padma."

Padma glanced at her grandmother one last time and got into the taxi, slamming the door closed behind her.

o0o

After managing to work their way through the rush hour traffic, they finally reached King's Cross Station at quarter to eleven. As Surya paid the driver with Muggle money, Padma and Parvati piled their trunks and owls onto trolleys.

"Come on, girls," their mother said briskly. "The train leaves in fifteen minutes and you want to get good seats."

The three of them hurried through Kings Cross Station, moving through the crowds of Muggles and heading for the barrier between platforms 9 and 10. Padma tightened her grip on the handles of her trolley.

"You first, Padma."

Padma walked forwards, quickening to a trot as she got closer to the blank wall. She wove her way through the crowds of Muggles and took a deep breath, slipping through the barrier and onto Platform 9¾. It was as crowded as last year, students talking loudly to one another and their parents, and the steam from the Hogwarts Express drifted over their heads in voluminous clouds. Soon enough her sister and mother emerged through the barrier.

"Be good, both of you," her mother said, hugging both of them tightly at the same time. "Don't forget to write home as often as possible. Make sure you tell me if you need anything, anything at all and…"

"We'll be fine, Mum," Parvati said. She kissed her on the cheek.

"You'd best get on board now," Surya said. She kissed them both again. "Don't forget to write to me."

"We won't!" the twins said simultaneously.

Padma was going to walk over to one of the carriages with Parvati, but her sister was suddenly knocked back by Lavender Brown who had, seemingly, appeared from nowhere. The brown haired Gryffindor grinned at her housemate.

"I've got so much to tell you!" she said, unable to stop herself from giggling.

"You only met up in Diagon Alley a week or so ago," Padma said.

"So what?" Parvati snapped. "A lot of things can happen in a week." She turned to Lavender. "Have you read this month's edition of _Divination Monthly_?"

"Is that the one with the article 'Theories on the Fog'?"

The two Gryffindors walked over to the Hogwarts Express, chatting animatedly about the practicalities of Divination through a crystal ball. Padma hurried behind them.

"Are we going to sit together on the train?" she asked suddenly.

Parvati stopped in her tracks and shrugged, adjusting her plait over her shoulder.

"I don't know."

"Come on, Parvati!" Lavender said, grabbing her by the arm. "We don't want to be stuck in a compartment with a load of first years, do we?"

"I'll see you later, Padma," Parvati said.

Padma found herself rooted to the spot as her twin gave her one last wave before being dragged onto the train by Lavender Brown. She came out of her daze as the whistle at the front of the Hogwarts Express blew shrilly, signalling for everyone to get on board. Padma hauled her trunk and Rama onto the train, walking down the carriages looking for an empty compartment.

"Hey, Padma!" a voice called from a compartment behind her. Padma found Lisa hanging around a door, smiling widely at her. "Come on and sit down. How was your summer in India?"

"Pretty good, really," Padma said truthfully. "Oh, I got you something as well."

She dug around in her trunk for a moment before pulling out a crumpled paper bag and handing it to Lisa. As Lisa eagerly opened the present, Padma dragged her trunk into the compartment. She found several second year Ravenclaws inside. Mandy and Anthony sat reading, while Terry was eating his way through a pile of Chocolate Frogs and sorting out the cards.

"Hey everyone," Padma smiled. With Terry's help, she managed to stow her trunk up on the rack.

"Hi, Padma," Mandy said, glancing up from her copy of _Voyages with Vampires_.

Padma glanced over to Anthony. He quickly disappeared behind an issue of _Practical Potions_. His face seemed to have turned the shade of maroon it had done in Flourish and Blots. Padma ignored this and sat down next to Terry, taking a Chocolate Frog from his pile as the train started to pull away, the pistons hissing.

"Hey!" he protested. "I didn't say that you could have one!"

"You didn't say that I couldn't," Padma replied logically. "Anyway, I'll give you the card, if that's why you're so annoyed."

Terry shrugged dismissively but he suddenly appeared much happier. Lisa came back into the compartment, holding the velvet lined box in her hands and beaming. She hugged Padma tightly.

"It's beautiful!" she exclaimed, sitting down and examining the ivory phoenix closely. "Where on earth did you get it?"

"The Lakshmi Bazaar," Padma explained. "It's in Delhi and it's like Diagon Alley, only much bigger, brighter and noisier. And there are all of these shops selling the most fantastic things!"

"It sounds amazing," Lisa said breathlessly.

"It is," Padma agreed. "But how was your holiday in Cornwall with your grandmother?"

"It was really good, though nothing like India, I'm sure!"

Padma smiled.

"Have you got any photographs?"

Lisa nodded and took a thick, leather bound album from her trunk. She and Padma spent an hour or so flicking through the pictures, laughing in particular at a picture of Lisa burying her little brother in the sand at the beach. The journey to Hogwarts passed without incident until the door of the compartment snapped open.

"Thank goodness I've found you!"

Parvati stood in the doorway looking excited.

"What, have you and Lavender finally discovered the flaw in crystal-gazing?" Padma asked with a grin.

"No!" Parvati said sharply. "Hermione Granger has just informed me that Harry Potter and Ron Weasley aren't on the train. It seems that they never made it through onto the platform. She's really worried about them."

Padma stared at her twin.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure," Parvati said seriously. "After all, Hermione _is_ best friends with them both, isn't she? Well, I'll see you later, Padma."

Parvati disappeared with a wave. By the window, Mandy had become very pale and had dropped _Voyages with Vampires _onto the floor.

"What do you think has happened to Harry?" she asked in a panicky voice.

"Do you think they'll get to Hogwarts?" Padma asked Lisa, ignoring Mandy.

"I don't know," Lisa replied truthfully. "I've never heard of anyone turning up late for school before."

"What do you think has happened to Harry?"

Terry looked up from his Chocolate Frog cards, glaring at Mandy.

"If you don't shut up about Harry Potter right now I swear I'll curse your tongue out of your mouth!"

Mandy looked scandalous.

"How dare you, Terry!" she screeched.

All of a sudden, and without any warning, Mandy reached into the pocket of her robes and withdrew her wand. She pointed it at Terry, her hand shaking uncontrollably.

"How dare you, Terry Boot," she said in a low voice. Terry was flattened up against the back of his seat, eyes wide with fear. "For a whole year I've put up with you making fun of me day in, day out! Just because I…" she paused. Padma could see tears in her eyes. "Just because I…"

All of a sudden, Mandy dropped her wand and hurried out of the compartment, sobbing. Padma looked at Terry who looked both scared and relieved at the same time, and he clutched tightly to the edge of his seat. Lisa glared at him.

"How many times did I tell you to stop being so horrible to her?" she hissed, getting up out of her seat and retrieving Mandy's wand. "It's just hero worship, Terry. Just because you're not the Boy Who Lived you don't have a right to be such a…such a…git."

With that, Lisa stormed out of the compartment and headed after Mandy. Terry looked pleadingly at Padma and Anthony.

"You _have_ been a git to her," Anthony said truthfully, folding up his copy of _Practical Potions_.

Padma nodded in agreement.

"You've really hurt her feelings, you realise," she said. "The best thing that you can do is apologise to her, but don't expect her to forgive you right away."

"But, but…" Terry started.

"But nothing, Terry," Padma said sternly. "You've really hurt her. Terry, you're my best friend but I'm not going to lie to you. She's not going to forgive you for a while. She wouldn't draw her wand on you if she wasn't really upset."

Terry was silent and stared at the floor. For the rest of the journey, the compartment was silent; Terry seemed deep in thought and Anthony had immersed himself in _Practical Potions _once more. Padma watched the countryside flash by out of the window and as darkness started to fill the sky, Lisa and Mandy failed to return. When it was announced that they were approaching Hogsmedede Station, Padma pulled on her robes and headed out into the crowded corridor. As she stepped out onto the chilly platform, she still couldn't spot her two dorm mates.

"Come on, Terry," she said, and they and Anthony headed up towards gates where dozens of horseless carriages stood.

As they trundled up to the enormous castle, Padma gazed up, feeling as though she was seeing a friend for the first time in many months. Hogwarts loomed ahead, dark against the sky, its windows burning brightly with light. It felt as though she was home.

The three Ravenclaws headed inside the Great Hall, finding the enchanted ceiling to be a velvety black and studded with stars, and students chattered excitedly, waiting for the Sorting ceremony to begin. Padma spotted Parvati and Lavender over at the Gryffindor table. She tried to ignore the jealousy that reared inside her and sat down with her classmates.

Further along the table, Padma could see Lisa and Mandy sitting together. Mandy was red eyed and stared resolutely at the table, while Lisa had her arm about her shoulders and was talking to her. She spotted Padma and waved, but totally disregarded Terry. He seemed to want to say something, but didn't get the chance as Professor McGonagall entered with the new first years.

All conversation stopped and hundreds of eyes watched the first years expectantly, almost hungrily. The youngsters passed by, faces full of awe, fear and excitement, but they avoided eye contact with the older students. Padma watched as one girl walked by, smiling at her unusual appearance. She had long, straggly blonde hair and wore what seemed to be Butterbeer corks around her throat as a necklace, and she gazed around the room with a dreamy expression on her face.

As the Sorting Hat sang about the qualities of the four houses, Padma looked up to the teacher's table. Dumbledore sat in his best robes, nodding along to the song while Lockhart sat with a goblet in one hand, admiring his reflection in the golden surface.

"Where's Snape?" Padma whispered to Terry.

"I dunno," Terry replied. "Do you reckon she'll ever forgive me?"

"Eventually," Padma said distractedly, still wondering where Snape had disappeared to.

As the Sorting Hat finished its song, Padma clapped and cheered with the rest of the school. One by one the first years were called up by Professor McGonagall, sat down on the three-legged stool and were Sorted. With each new Ravenclaw, Padma clapped enthusiastically with the rest of her house. As "Lee, Benjamin" was Sorted into Hufflepuff, Professor McGonagall cried out,

"Lovegood, Luna."

The dreamy looking girl sat down on the stool and stared out at the students, that was until the Sorting Hat slipped down over her eyes. It was the longest Sorting that Padma had seen so far. Luna sat with the wizards' hat on her head for two and a half minutes until it shouted,

"Ravenclaw!"

Padma clapped enthusiastically. Luna drifted over to the Ravenclaw table and sat opposite Padma and next to Terry. Her appearance seemed to bring Terry out of his daze and he stared at her, watching as she gazed up at the ceiling with a slightly unfocussed expression. Terry shrugged and turned to watch the rest of the Sorting.

When "Weasley, Ginny" was Sorted into Gryffindor, several red-headed boys stood up to cheer loudly, causing the small girl to blush the same colour as her hair. Professor McGonagall removed the Sorting Hat from the front of the hall and Dumbledore stood up, smiling around at the students.

"Welcome back to another year at Hogwarts!" he said, beaming at them all. "Before we tuck into our delectable feast, I would like to deliver a few notices. As usual, the Forbidden Forest is, as the name suggests, forbidden, while Mr Filch would like me to remind you all that there is a list of banned items on the door of his office. And, finally, I would like to introduce Gilderoy Lockhart, our new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor."

Professor Dumbledore paused for a moment, allowing Lockhart to rise from his seat and display the smile that had won him an award from Witch Weekly five times. He seemed to lap up the applause that came from many of the female students like a very smug, perfectly coiffed cat. It was at least a minute before Lockhart sat down and allowed Dumbledore to continue.

"All that is left to say is tuck in!"

As the food appeared on the golden plates, the students gave out a cheer. Padma helped herself to some pie and started to eat, pausing as she noticed Luna staring fixedly at the ceiling, totally oblivious that the feast had begun.

"Luna," Padma said softly.

The first year tore her eyes from the ceiling and, instead, fixed them upon Padma's face. She said nothing, just looked at Padma with her silvery-grey eyes.

"Luna," Padma said kindly, "the feast has started. You can have something to eat, you know."

"Oh," Luna said plainly, "I hadn't noticed." She took a mint humbug from a bowl and popped it into her mouth, sucking on it thoughtfully. "Who are you, by the way?"

"I'm Padma and I'm in second year."

"I'm Luna and I'm in first year."

"I think we knew that by the fact that you were just Sorted," Terry said with a smile.

"I was, wasn't I?"

Padma and Terry exchanged confused glances.

"Doesn't it get wet in here when it rains?" Luna asked suddenly.

"What do you mean?" Padma enquired.

"Well, seeing as the room just opens out onto the sky, the rain would surely get inside," Luna said, as if this was the most obvious explanation. "Do you all sit at breakfast with umbrellas when it rains?"

Terry snorted into his mashed potato. Luna glanced at him before turning to Padma for an answer.

"The ceiling is just enchanted to look like the sky outside," Padma explained, trying to keep a straight face. "So when it rains, we never get wet. And we don't need umbrellas inside either," she added as an afterthought.

"Oh."

Luna glanced one last time at the ceiling before pulling a copy of _The Quibbler_ from her cloak and starting to read it sideways. Terry rolled his eyes and turned back to his food, briefly glancing along the table to Morag and Lisa. The latter glared at him before turning back to talk to a couple of third years.

As the feast ended and Professor Dumbledore sent them off to bed, the Great Hall was filled with the scraping of benches and loud, excited conversation. Padma, Terry and Anthony headed up towards the Common Room, passing Penelope Clearwater who was talking to the new Ravenclaws at the bottom of the marble staircase.

"What's the password?" Padma asked as they eventually reached the bronze eagle.

Terry and Anthony shrugged. They stood at the statue for a minute or so, waiting for someone who knew the password to appear. A couple of third year girls emerged from the stairs, talking animatedly.

"Excuse me," Padma said politely, "do you know the password?"

"Do you know it, Cho?" the girl with curly, reddish-brown hair asked her friend.

"Librus," Cho replied kindly, brushing her long black hair out of her eyes and watching as the bronze eagle swung backwards. "Come on, Marietta. One of the others has brought some Butterbeer in from home and I want to get at least one bottle to celebrate being back."

Padma stepped aside to let Cho and Marietta pass before entering the Ravenclaw Common Room and breathing in the rich, musty smell of books that made her feel like she was home. She sat down in her favourite seat by the fire and crossed her legs underneath her, gazing into the flames.

"Aren't you going to bed?" Terry asked as he sat on the sofa.

Padma shook her head.

"I thought I might read for a bit. How about you, Anthony?"

Anthony pushed his glasses back up his nose and smiled weakly.

"I think I'll go up to bed," he said quickly. "Goodnight."

With that, he disappeared up the stairs. Padma shrugged and picked up a book from the table next to her, a tome titled _The Ancient History of Magic_. As soon as she started to read, there was a burst of excited chatter as Penelope and another of the Prefects brought the first years into the Common Room for the first time.

"It doesn't feel like it's been a year, does it?"

Terry shook his head, watching as the first years gazed around the room in awe. Luna Lovegood trailed behind the rest of the group. She knelt on the floor and lifted a corner of one of the rugs, peering underneath it. This caused her classmates to giggle and point until Penelope hushed them. She seemed to be unaware of the stares and instead merely drifted up the girls' staircase behind them.

"She's a bit…strange," Terry commented.

"I'd say quirky," Padma said with a smile. "I think with her around, things will never be dull."

Terry looked as though he was about to say something but stopped when Mandy and Lisa entered the Common Room. Mandy looked at him, seeming both angry and upset and stepped forward.

"Mandy," Terry started. "I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to…"

"Of course you meant to!" Mandy said, her lower lip trembling. "Just…" she faltered again. "Just…just leave me alone, Terry."

With that she turned on her heel and stalked up to the dormitory, Lisa in tow. Lisa paused on the bottom step and glared at Terry for a moment. She obviously wanted to say something but was unable to. Instead she shook her head and disappeared after Mandy.

"I'm doomed," Terry said finally. "They both hate me."

"It seems that way," Padma said truthfully, carefully closing her book. "They'll be alright in the end, Terry. Just don't do anything else to upset them, okay?"

Terry nodded glumly. Padma smiled weakly and got up from her chair.

"It'll be alright, Terry."

"Goodnight."

Padma headed over to the girls' staircase and paused on the same step as Lisa had.

"Night, Terry."

Before she headed up to the dormitory that first night back, the last thing she saw was Terry sitting before the fireplace, staring into the flames. He looked utterly miserable.


	16. Howlers and Pixies

**Yet again, I apologise for the distinct lack of chapters over the last couple of months. College is getting more hectic, and I'm finding precious little time to write. I hope you'll forgive me. I have a couple of chapters planned out, but it's difficult to find the time to type them up. Please keep looking for more new chapters. They might be slow to appear, but they will be here eventually.**

**Chapter 16: Howlers and Pixies**

At breakfast the next morning, Padma sat munching on a slice of toast as she read her copy of the _Standard Book of Spells (Grade 2)_, which she had propped up against a jug of pumpkin juice. Terry, on the other hand, merely stared deep into his porridge. He was desperately trying to avoid the mutinous glares that Lisa was giving him now and again from halfway down the table.

Padma turned a page and looked up from her book, smiling at Terry across the table.

"It'll be fine in the end," she said soothingly.

"No it won't," Terry said, sloshing milk into his bowl. "They're going to hate me forever." He looked seriously at Padma. "I didn't mean to tease Mandy like that. But Potter's just a second year like the rest of us. He's nothing special."

"That's not what Mandy thinks," Padma said.

"I know that now," Terry muttered. "It's just typical that a Gryffindor would get all of the attention. We Ravenclaws are just brains with legs to everyone else. We…"

"Don't blame this on inter-house rivalries," Padma said. "You're just trying to avoid the fact that a part of you would really like to be famous and that…"

Padma didn't get a chance to finish what she was saying. Suddenly the Great Hall was filled with a shrill, piercing voice. Three quarters of the students turned in their seats, craning their necks.

"I wonder who's got a Howler," Padma mused.

"…Stealing the car, I wouldn't have been surprised if they'd expelled you, you wait 'til I get hold of you…don't suppose you stopped to think what your father and I went through when we saw it had gone…"

"It's Weasley!" Terry said. He seemed to have perked up at the sound of someone else's misery.

"…Letter from Dumbledore last night, I thought your father would die of shame, we didn't bring you up to behave like this, you and Harry could both have died…"

Padma glanced down the table to where Mandy and Lisa were sitting; Mandy was sitting bolt upright in her seat, staring over to the Gryffindor where Harry was sitting. Lisa glanced over at Terry, making it perfectly clear that if he made any comment, she would hex him. Terry noticed this and pressed his lips together.

The Howler was still in full flow.

"…Absolutely disgusted, your father's facing an enquiry at work, it's entirely your fault and if you put another toe out of line we'll bring you straight back home!"

Padma watched as Ron emerged from behind the table, his face as red as the setting sun. A few people laughed and normal conversation returned to the Great Hall once more. Padma turned back to her book as Professor Flitwick walked along beside the Ravenclaw table, distributing the timetables.

"I can't believe the two of them actually flew a car to school!" Padma said after she received her timetable. Terry's expression showed that he had no desire to hear anything more about Harry and Ron. "Double Transfiguration, Defence Against the Dark Arts and Charms," she commented brightly, quickly changing the subject.

Terry pulled a face.

"Fantastic! I really wanted Lockhart on my first day back!"

Padma smiled and put her book into her bag.

"Come on then. We may as well get to Transfiguration early."

Terry nodded and gathered up his things, following Padma out of the Great Hall. As he passed by Lisa and Mandy, he got two very different reactions from the girls; Mandy stared resolutely at her cereal but Lisa watched him pass, her eyes narrowed.

Padma and Terry trooped up to the Transfiguration classroom, Terry unnaturally quiet, and when they sat down in their usual seats, he opened his textbook and read in silence. Professor McGonagall entered the room and smiled shortly at the two Ravenclaws, turning to clear her desk with her wand. Once the rest of the Ravenclaws arrived she waved her wand, causing writing to appear on the blackboard.

"Good morning class," she said curtly, "and welcome to second year Transfiguration. This year we will be starting to learn about Transfiguring animals into inanimate objects. We will start small today, with beetles into buttons. Turn to page ten in your textbooks and copy down the theory and technique required for the spell."

The Ravenclaws got started at once. Padma quickly scanned down the page and started to write, her quill bobbing as she went. She paused, noticing that Terry wasn't writing anything down.

"What's wrong?" she asked in a whisper.

"They hate me," he said morosely.

Padma rolled her eyes and put down her quill.

"Listen, Terry," she said seriously, "Lisa and Mandy may hate you now, but they won't forever. Just pull yourself together!" She paused, pretending to examine her book as Professor McGonagall looked up from her desk. "You can't spend all of your time moping around!"

Terry turned his head towards Padma, his eyes scanning her face for a moment. He smiled weakly and nodded before picking up his quill.

"You're right," he said finally. "Thanks, Padma."

The rest of the lesson passed without incident. By the end of the lesson, Padma had a small pile of shiny buttons on the desk in front of her. Terry had managed to Transfigure a couple, but now he was trying to catch one of them and narrowly avoided squashing it with his elbow. Professor McGonagall cleared her throat.

"Homework is to read all of chapter one and make notes on animal to inanimate object Transfiguration!" she cried over the scraping of chairs.

Padma and Terry walked out of the Transfiguration classroom and headed to Defence Against the Dark Arts, pushing their way through the thronging crowds of students. When they reached the classroom, they found the door closed and the Ravenclaws lined up outside. Morag and Su seemed to be talking about Lockhart.

"He's done so many amazing things!" Su exclaimed, clutching a copy of _Gadding With Ghouls _to her chest.

"I know!" Morag said. "Did you get your books signed in the summer at Flourish and Blotts?"

Su shook her head.

"Do you think he'll sign them after the lesson?"

"Oh, I hope so!" Morag said breathlessly.

Padma smiled and pulled her bag up higher on her shoulder. Michael Corner arrived and leant up against the wall, grinning at the two giggling girls.

"You don't fancy that great, smiling fool, do you?" he asked.

Morag glared at him, looking scandalous, but said nothing. Instead she blushed and turned back to talk to Su. Michael looked triumphant and turned to Padma.

"Do you have a thing for Lockhart?"

"No I do not!" Padma said, fighting back the urge to laugh. She folded her arms across her chest. "My sister does, but that's not the point, is it? I don't think much of Lockhart. His books don't particularly give me much faith in his abilities."

Terry nodded in agreement.

"Well, I think that Gilderoy Lockhart is…"

"A dashingly handsome fellow with a great magical talent?"

Terry snorted through his nose and turned, coming face to face with Lockhart who was wearing turquoise robes and a self-important smile. Padma covered her mouth with a hand to stop herself from laughing out loud, and Anthony was staring at Terry with a look of horror on his face. Terry forced an expression of disgust into a smile.

"Yes, Professor," he said meekly.

The Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, which last year had been decorated with diagrams and skeletons of Dark creatures, was now filled with paintings of Lockhart. From every corner of the room, Gilderoy Lockhart was waving and smiling at the pupils. Padma took out her books and quill and tried to ignore the pictures. It was very difficult when the real thing was standing at the front of the classroom.

"As you should all know, I am Gilderoy Lockhart; Order of Merlin, third class," he began in a clear, carrying voice, "Honourary Member of the Dark Force Defence League and," he paused for effect, "five times winner of Witch Weekly's Most-Charming Smile Award. But I don't often mention that."

He flashed the class one of his award-winning smiles. Next to Padma, Terry was breathing heavily through his nose.

"Of course he doesn't!" he muttered sarcastically.

"Well, enough about me," Lockhart said cheerfully. "I thought that we'd start with a small test, just to see how much you've picked up from reading my books, of course." He handed out sheets of parchment to the Ravenclaws. "You may begin."

Padma, quill poised, scanned the parchment. The test contained nothing more than questions about Lockhart and his travels, as well as several on his personal qualities and ambitions.

"So much for 'enough about me'!" Terry muttered.

Feeling utterly disgusted at the wizard's vanity, Padma grudgingly began to write down the answers as she recalled them from his books.

After the parchment had been collected in, Lockhart set about marking them, shaking his head and making disappointed noises every so often.

"Tut tut!" he said. "You really should have read my collective works more carefully!" The Ravenclaws looked scandalous at the fact that he was criticising their reading ability. "But, on a whole, you did a fair job. Miss MacDougal and Miss Li; you both got excellent marks! You were the only two in the class to know that I received my first award at the age of twenty two. It was, of course, for my smile."

He winked at Morag and Su, who dissolved into fits of giggles as he handed back the papers.

"Now we will continue with something a bit different," he announced, returning to his desk.

"It's about time," Padma muttered.

Terry managed to change his laughter into a hacking cough, while Mandy and Su glared at him. Padma grinned at Terry. Lockhart seemed oblivious and picked up a covered cage from behind his desk. It was covered in a sheet and, now and again, rattled menacingly.

"It is my duty to prepare you for anything that you might encounter outside Hogwarts that is a danger to you," he continued, his voice grave. "Therefore, I show you this!"

With a flourish of his hand, Professor Lockhart drew back the cloth and revealed its contents. Inside, jabbering and rattling the bars, were a number of electric blue pixies. This time, Terry was unable to disguise his laughter. Across the classroom, Padma saw Lisa frown at him.

"What is it, Mr Boot?" Lockhart asked, sounding rather flustered.

But Terry was unable to talk; he was doubled over laughing. Anthony straightened in his chair and answered on Terry's behalf,

"Well, Cornish pixies aren't exactly dangerous, are they Professor?"

"That may well be," Lockhart said briskly, "but they are tricky little blighters. If you're so confident, Mr Goldstein, you'll be able to deal with them yourself, won't you?"

Anthony opened his mouth to speak but before he could say anything, Professor Lockhart opened the door of the cage, releasing the pixies. Padma ducked down underneath her desk as one of the creatures swooped at her, snatching up her copy of _Gadding with Ghouls_ and attempting to beat her across the head with it. Screams and shouts filled the classroom as the pixies caused chaos. Peeking over the desk, Padma could see that a couple were flying around Mandy, pulling at her hair, while another was throwing rolls of parchment about the room.

"Nothing to panic about!" Lockhart shouted, attempting to wrestle a photograph of himself away from a couple of determined pixies.

The Ravenclaws grabbed their things and made a dash for the door as Professor Lockhart waved his wand at the two pixies with his photograph. The glass shattered and the Lockhart in the picture cowered behind the frame. Padma pulled out her wand and pulled her bag over her shoulder, ducking a copy of _Year with the Yeti_.

She waved her wand at a couple of pixies that were throwing quills at Terry. They were blown back by a blast of air.

"Come on, Terry!" Padma said. "Get your bag and let's go!"

He fumbled with the clasp on his bag. Padma rolled her eyes and grabbed his hand, dragging him out of the classroom and leaving Lockhart to deal with the pixies himself. After she closed the heavy wooden door, Padma let go of Terry's hand.

"Are you alright?" she asked as they headed down to the Great Hall for lunch.

"I'm fine," Terry said shortly. "But that Lockhart is hopeless! I doubt he'll last out the year if all his lessons are as much of a disaster as that one!"

Padma nodded in agreement. They entered the Great Hall and looked for a place to sit at the Ravenclaw table. Lisa and Mandy were sitting halfway down, at a distance from the rest of the second years, and when Padma and Terry passed, Mandy looked resolutely at her plate. Padma found a couple of seats opposite Luna Lovegood.

"Hi Luna," Padma said, taking a sandwich from a platter. "How do you like Hogwarts so far?"

Luna looked up, her pale eyes wide, and she pushed her wand behind her ear. Terry winced; he was clearly imagining the first year losing her ear in a freak wand accident.

"It's been very interesting," Luna said finally, "though I think that Professor Sprout was wrong saying that Crumple-Leaved Dog Roses didn't exist. They do; my father went on an expedition once and saw them himself. He couldn't bring any specimens back though. They turn invisible when you get to close, you see."

"I've never heard of them," Padma said honestly. "They sound very interesting, Luna."

"Oh, they are!" Luna said enthusiastically. She smiled dreamily. "People have started calling me Loony Lovegood, you know," she added matter-of-factly.

Padma frowned. She couldn't believe how horrible children could be sometimes. Luna didn't seem to notice this and pulled out her copy of the _Quibbler_, scratching her nose with the tip of her wand. Terry winced again and turned to Padma.

"Why are you agreeing with her?" he asked through a mouthful of pasty.

"They really do sound interesting, Terry," Padma said. She swilled her pumpkin juice around her goblet. "Why shouldn't I agree with her?"

"Crumple-Leaved Dog Roses don't exist!"

"How do we know that anything exists?" Padma asked him logically. "It can't only be through sight, smell, touch, sound or taste. If we can't sense it, it doesn't mean it's not there."

Terry stared at her. He finally shrugged.

"I suppose you're right," he said. "But I wish that she wouldn't use her wand like that! It's not safe!"

Padma smiled and began to eat. It all felt so natural to be back at Hogwarts. The lessons, the teachers and the students; even the smell of the place. Things could be perfectly normal then completely topsy-turvy the next, she thought, glancing at Luna who was humming softly to herself. But whatever it was like at Hogwarts, she felt as though she was finally back at home.


	17. Trouble at Hogwarts

**Chapter 17: Trouble at Hogwarts**

Time, once again, seemed to fly by at Hogwarts. Padma was working hard as usual and reading in her spare time, and soon enough Halloween arrived.

The Ravenclaws trooped down to the Great Hall that evening, chattering excitedly, and when they entered the enormous room they found that it was as impressive as the previous year; live bats swooped about the ceiling and giant pumpkins, carved with grimacing faces, floated above the house tables.

Padma sat down at the Ravenclaw table between Luna and Terry. Luna was wearing earrings that were tiny carved pumpkins, and she had her necklace of Butterbeer corks on around her neck.

"I hope that the feast isn't interrupted this year," Terry said.

Padma nodded in agreement, vividly recalling Professor Quirrel making the announcement that there was a troll in the dungeon. Professor Dumbledore stood at the front of the Great Hall, smiling out at the sea of pupils. They immediately fell silent.

"I have nothing to say apart from tuck in!" he cried.

Next to Padma, Terry gave a small cheer as the food appeared on the tables. Padma helped herself to some pumpkin soup and settled down to enjoy the evening. Lisa and Mandy were sitting a little further down the table, at a distance from Terry. Mandy looked sulky, most probably because Harry had failed to turn up for the Halloween Feast. The animosity between the three Ravenclaws was starting to wear on Padma and she ate her soup in silence.

"What's wrong, Padma?" Anthony asked from across the table.

"It's nothing, Anthony," Padma said.

"Are you sure? You look a bit…"

"It's nothing!" Padma said firmly, frowning at her classmate.

Anthony stared at his plate and mumbled something under his breath. Padma sighed and pushed her soup around the dish, glancing up momentarily to see Anthony push his glasses back up his nose, looking utterly miserable.

"I'm sorry," Padma said. "I didn't mean to snap at you, Anthony. It's just Lisa and Terry…" She paused and smiled at him. "It really doesn't matter, but thanks for asking."

Anthony nodded shortly and returned to his food, but he definitely looked more cheerful. Padma looked over to the Gryffindor table. She found Parvati and Lavender giggling shrilly as they watched two of their male counterparts throwing mint humbugs into the air, catching them in their mouths. Padma frowned deeply and turned back to the Ravenclaw table as the first course disappeared from the plates and was replaced by dessert.

"How are you enjoying the feast?" she asked Luna, helping herself to a Cauldron Cake.

"It's quite nice," Luna replied. She adjusted her necklace and picked up a Liquorice Wand. "Has Terry got Gobbler's Gout?"

"Not that I'm aware of," Padma said, puzzled. "Why do you ask?"

"I read about it in the _Quibbler_," Luna explained. "It makes you very hungry, and I think that Terry is displaying all of the symptoms. Oh look," she said mildly, "skeletons."

Padma turned in her seat and found that Luna was correct; a group of moving skeletons was trooping up the middle of the house tables, several of them juggling with their own ribs as they went. Professor Dumbledore stood up in his seat and waved his hands for silence.

"I do believe that entertainment is required as we digest this delicious food," he said clearly, eyes twinkling. "I present to you the Balancing Bones Acrobatic Troupe!"

The pupils clapped and cheered enthusiastically as the skeletons took up positions in front of the teachers' table. Padma watched in awe as they danced and tumbled to music played by a skeletal band. They juggled their skulls, tossing them with ease high into the air and catching them deftly on their necks. A pair of them tumbled down the aisle, their bones clattering noisily on the stone floor, whilst the others played a tune on their ribs.

Padma cheered, joining in the rapturous applause as the Balancing Bones left the Great Hall. The food on the house tables disappeared, much to Terry's annoyance.

"Well, that concludes another Halloween celebration," Professor Dumbledore said to the students. "Now it's time for bed. Off you go, then!"

Padma joined the throngs of students flooding out of the Great Hall. She watched as Luna disappeared into the crowds, pumpkin earrings bobbing, and she managed to catch up with Terry as they headed up the marble staircase.

"Great food," Terry concluded as they walked. "Absolutely delicious. I think…"

He stopped mid-sentence and grabbed hold of Padma's arm. His face was pale. Padma's jaw dropped as she saw what had struck Terry dumb. They both stood as still as statues and Padma could feel the crowds of students pushing behind them, and silence washed back over them all.

Harry and his two best friends, Ron and Hermione, stood apart from the rest of the crowd. They looked shocked and scared, staring up at what was written between two of the windows in foot high, blood-red letters:

_THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED. ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE._

Beneath the ominous words, hanging from a torch bracket, was Filch's cat. Padma blinked, unbelieving, at what she was seeing before her very eyes. Next to her, Terry swore softly under his breath. His hand tightened on Padma's arm.

"What does it mean?" Padma asked him.

"I don't know," Terry whispered.

The students were muttering now, wondering what had happened, and those further back were pushing forward, trying to see what was happening. Padma was roughly shoved aside and she turned to find Malfoy staring at the scene, his usually pale face flushed and a grin across his pinched features.

"Enemies of the Heir, beware!" he sneered and said, almost gleefully, "You'll be next, Mudbloods!"

Padma stared at him. He was staring at the blood-red writing with a gleam in his eyes and he seemed unaware that many of the students around him, much like Padma, was staring at him with expressions of utter disbelief on their faces.

"What's going on here? What's going on?"

The voice of the caretaker, Filch, cut through the murmuring of the students. He elbowed his way through the crowd, stopping in his tracks as he spotted his beloved cat, Mrs Norris, hanging from the bracket. Filch hurried forward and clutched at his face, eyes widening in horror.

"My cat! What's happened to Mrs Norris?" he shrieked and turned to find Harry staring at the immobile cat. The horror on his face changed quickly to anger. "You! You! You've murdered my cat! You've killed her! I'll kill you! I'll…"

"Argus!"

Professor Dumbledore swept through the students who parted before him. Padma could see that his bright blue eyes were mournful, and he gently removed Mrs Norris from the bracket as more of the staff moved through the students. They looked at the writing on the wall, clearly confused.

"Come with me, Argus. You too, Mr Potter, Mr Weasley, Miss Granger," he said coolly.

Professor Lockhart burst through the crowd, looking almost excited. He was bouncing on the balls of his feet and clasped his hands together.

"My office is nearest, Headmaster – just upstairs – please – feel free."

"Thank you Gilderoy."

The Headmaster of Hogwarts and the three Gryffindors, followed by Lockhart, Professor McGonagall and Snape, walked off in silence. As they passed, Padma observed that the three second years looked worried. She turned to Terry who had finally let go of her arm and was now staring at the writing again.

"Ravenclaws, back to the Common Room!" Professor Flitwick was shouting over the chatter that had suddenly started again. "Prefects, accompany them! Quickly now!"

"Follow me, Ravenclaws!" Penelope cried clearly.

The Ravenclaws followed their Prefects back up to the Common Room in silence, but once they arrived in the sanctuary of the book-filled room, excited and enthusiastic debate broke out at once. Padma, on the other hand, took her favourite seat by the fireplace and crossed her legs, staring deep into the flickering flames. Lisa and Mandy sat down on the sofa, talking softly, but when Terry walked over to Padma, Lisa got to her feet.

"Let's go upstairs, Mandy," she said shortly.

Padma looked up from the fire and frowned as Lisa grabbed Mandy by the hand and dragged her to her feet. Without thinking, she stood up and blocked their path.

"Lisa, don't you think this has gone on long enough?" she asked.

Lisa frowned, brushing her hair from her eyes.

"Not for Boot, it hasn't," she snapped, her blue eyes flashing dangerously. "Now can we get past?"

"No." Padma stood her ground and looked evenly at her dorm-mate. "You need to let Mandy fight her own battles. As I remember from the train, she did a pretty good job of it. Let her deal with this problem."

Mandy stood, dumfounded, watching Padma and Lisa closely. Terry was hovering at Padma's shoulder, looking worried. Lisa sighed and let go of Mandy's hand.

"Fine," she said. "Mandy, are you still angry at Terry for what he said to you."

There was silence for a moment. Padma watched Mandy carefully, feeling her heart pounding in her chest.

"I'm still annoyed," Mandy said. Lisa looked triumphant until she continued, "But I'm not angry any more. If Terry doesn't like Harry that's fine. Just as long as he doesn't pick on me for thinking that he's great…" she paused as Terry smiled, "…because he defeated You-Know-Who, of course."

Lisa frowned deeply and folded her arms across her chest. Padma watched as her dorm-mate flopped down onto the sofa in resignation and gave a faint, reluctant smile. Terry grinned and lent close to Padma's ear.

"Thanks a lot, Padma," he whispered.

Padma patted him on the shoulder.

"It's fine," she said warmly.

She sat back down in her seat and crossed her legs, breathing deeply. The triumph at the successful reconciliation managed to subdue the worry that was rising inside her. Padma watched as Terry and Mandy set about playing a game of Exploding Snap, glad that she was able to push the image of Mrs Norris and the ominous message out of her thoughts.

o0o

The next Saturday, Padma and her fellow Ravenclaws stood in the stands about the Quidditch pitch, the events of the previous week far from their thoughts. Instead, all attention was focused on the nail-biting match between Gryffindor and Slytherin. The atmosphere in the stadium was electric; the sounds of cheering from the stands rose all around, the rain pounded against the stands and the jeers of the Slytherin students cut through the air.

Padma had the hood of her cloak pulled up over her head and she peered through the rain, while beside her Mandy was chewing on her knuckles nervously. Luna Lovegood, on the other hand, had a large floppy hat on her head and was reading the latest copy of the_ Quibbler_. At that moment, Harry Potter was being chased by what could only be described as a rogue Bludger.

"What's the score?" Padma cried over the roar of the crowd as Harry dodged the Bludger.

"Sixty to zero!" Terry yelled. "Gryffindor better win. Slytherin are a load of…"

Padma didn't hear the end of Terry's insult. At that moment, the crowd let out a combination of moans and laughter as Harry swerved wildly in order to dodge the Bludger. The Slytherins cheered loudly and gleefully. The Gryffindor team swooped down to the ground for a team talk. Terry was watching the rogue Bludger circling in the air above.

"I'm surprised Madam Hooch hasn't stopped the game!" he shouted.

Padma nodded in agreement.

"It's even more of a risk in this weather!" Terry added. "It'll be really difficult to see the Bludger through all of the rain!"

The crowds cheered as the Gryffindor team took to the air once more. As soon as they were back up there, the Bludger shot at Harry and he had to quickly accelerate to escape it. As he shot past the Ravenclaw stand, Mandy cheered enthusiastically, her hood flying back from her face. Terry grinned at her and Mandy turned, spotting his expression.

"Say nothing, Boot!" she snapped. "I'm allowed to think that he's great because he defeated You-Know-Who…as well as the fact that he's a fantastic Quidditch player!"

Terry grimaced and turned his attention back to the Quidditch game. Padma smiled, watching as Harry twirled in the air near Malfoy, the new Slytherin Seeker, and shot past him. Suddenly, he stopped mid-flight, seemingly staring at Malfoy's ear. Something golden glittered through the rain.

"He's seen the Snitch!" Mandy cried. "Go Harry, go!"

Before the Gryffindor Seeker could move, the Bludger slammed into his right elbow and the crowd moaned as one, except for the Slytherins who cheered at the top of their voices. Harry slumped sideways on his broom as the Bludger swerved around for another attack. Next to Padma, Mandy was clutching to the front of the stands and biting her bottom lip. Nobody in the stands seemed to be watching the rest of the game; all attention was on Harry and the Bludger.

Luna looked up from her magazine, noticing that everyone was watching the drama in front of her. The rain dripped of the brim of her hat and she stared at Harry with wide eyes.

"He doesn't look too happy, does he?" she said loudly.

"I think he's broken his arm!" Padma shouted back.

"Oh," Luna said. Confusion briefly passed over her face. "I thought that maybe he'd come down with a case of German Grumbling Gut."

She turned back to her magazine. Padma smiled turned back to the game, finding that Harry had dodged the Bludger once more and was now looking down at Malfoy. He suddenly swooped down at the blonde-haired Slytherin. He took his remaining hand off the broom handle so that he was now only gripping onto it with his knees and he snatched madly at the Snitch. The sound of the crowd was a mix of jeers, cheering and screams as Harry plummeted to the ground and lay quite still on the muddy grass.

"Is he alright?" Mandy asked. She was hanging over the edge of the stand.

Padma pulled her away from the edge by grabbing onto the back of her cloak. The Gryffindor team had landed around Harry, shielding him from view.

"I'm sure he'll be fine," she said in a reassuring tone. "Madam Pomfrey will have him fixed up in no time."

Terry nodded in agreement.

"Come on," he said to his classmates as the stands began to empty, "I want to get back to the Common Room before we get drowned."

The Ravenclaws left the stands, hurrying along with the crowds that swarmed up towards the castle. Padma kept an eye on Luna who kept getting swept towards one side as she insisted on continuing to read as they walked. They eventually reached the warmth of the Common Room and took off their wet cloaks before huddling around the fireplace.

"I hope we can beat Slytherin," Terry said.

Michael Corner frowned and shook his head gravely.

"Ravenclaws may be known for their intelligence, but that isn't much use on the Quidditch pitch is it?"

"Don't let Davies hear you say that!" Terry hissed.

Padma looked around. Roger Davies, a dark haired and broad shouldered fourth year, stood by the boys' staircase with a couple of dorm-mates. He was the most dedicated player on the team and it seemed obvious to the whole house that he would become Quidditch Captain when Everage left at the end of the year. Michael looked worried and sat down with his back to the fourth year.

Sitting down in her favourite chair, Padma took a book from the pile at her elbow and started to read. She became totally immersed and the next time she looked up, the Common Room was almost empty and none of the second years remained. Padma yawned and stumbled up the spiral staircase, falling asleep almost as soon as she flopped down onto her bed.

o0o

The next morning at breakfast, Padma turned in her seat as someone called her name. Parvati ran over from the Gryffindor table, her plait bobbing behind her. She looked worried.

"What's wrong?" Padma asked.

"Another person has been Petrified!" Parvati gasped. She threw her arms around her sister's neck and hugged her furiously. "Colin Creevy. He's a first year Gryffindor. Oh it's horrible, Padma!"

Padma hugged her twin tightly.

"It'll be alright," she said reassuringly.

Parvati nodded shortly and hugged Padma one last time before hurrying back over to the Gryffindor table. The second year Ravenclaws were quiet. Lisa looked up from her porridge.

"I wonder how bad it's going to get."

Padma swallowed back a lump rising in her throat and stared at her toast. She was no longer hungry and so gathered up her bag, hauling it onto her shoulder.

"I'm going to do my History of Magic homework in the library," she said. "Does anyone want to come with me?"

"I will," Terry said, picking up his things. "I could use some help from you anyway."

The two Ravenclaws left their classmates and headed up to the Library. Inside, it was almost empty as many of the pupils wouldn't bother getting up until lunch. There were a couple of fifth years in one corner and a solitary Slytherin sat reading, looking rather grim. Padma found a desk near the History of Magic section and she set out her things, unfurling her parchment. Terry watched as it rolled onto the floor.

"How much have you written?" he asked, aghast.

"Three feet four inches," Padma replied. She unscrewed the lid of her ink bottle and dipped her quill in. "I still have the conclusion to write."

"I've only done two feet nine inches," Terry moaned. "Could I borrow your notes for a minute? I won't use them too much."

Padma nodded and handed over a couple of scrolls of parchment. The two Ravenclaws worked solidly for an hour, Terry measuring his essay now and again. Padma turned as someone hissed at her. It was an older Ravenclaw who moved to sit in front of the two second years. He glanced around.

"Are you two interested in some protection?" he asked in a low voice.

"What do you mean?" Terry asked, looking up from his essay.

The older boy rolled his eyes and reached into his robes. He pulled out numerous objects and piled them on top of Padma's notes. Padma picked up a claw on a chain and held it before her face, examining it carefully.

"Protection from the Heir, of course," the boy said matter-of-factly.

"What does that do?" Terry asked, pointing to a purple crystal.

"Oh all sorts," the boy said. "It protects the user from…curses and hexes and things. Interested? Only four Sickles for a fellow Ravenclaw."

Terry reached for his pocket.

"Don't bother," Padma said, pulling out her wand. "I bet it couldn't even protect you from a Tickling Charm. He probably got it from an owl-order service for three Knuts!"

The Ravenclaw frowned deeply.

"I'll have you know that this crystal comes from…Chile, and it's…"

He trailed off as Padma poked the crystal with her wand. It immediately crumbled into dust and Padma smiled at the boy, while Terry struggled to disguise his laughter. The older boy gathered up his things and stuffed them into his pockets.

"Have it your way then!" he snapped, "But don't come crying to me if you're both attacked!

"I think if we were attacked, we couldn't cry," Padma said coolly.

The Ravenclaw blushed and scurried off around a bookshelf without a backward glance. Terry grinned at Padma.

"Thanks for that," he said. "I could've lost four Sickles if I'd been on my own. You don't think we'll get attacked, do you?" he added as an afterthought.

"From what Malfoy said on Halloween, it sounds as though only Muggleborns will be attacked," Padma explained. "We're unlikely to be in any danger."

The two Ravenclaws turned back to their work, but when Padma looked back across at Terry, it didn't seem as though he'd found her words very comforting at all.


	18. Apolgies and Thanks

I thought that I should tell you all that 'Through a Ravenclaw's Eyes: Padma Patil's Story' is now on hiatus, and it is possible that I will no longer be updating. You have probably noticed that I have been updating less frequently of late, and I feel that I owe you a proper explanation as to what is happening, rather than leaving you all hanging on.

My life is becoming more hectic. I am in my final year at college and am starting to prepare for my A Levels before heading off to university, and that is leaving me little free time. I also play netball three times a week, and that is becoming a bigger part of my life, and I have been working on my first book as well, something that I have wanted to do for many years. This story has become a huge part of me, and it's very difficult to stop writing it, but I have to tell you that I will probably no longer be updating.

I hope you all understand my reasons for stopping writing 'Through a Ravenclaw's Eyes: Padma Patil's Story'. All of my reviewers have been a great motivation to me, and, honestly, you have made me truly believe that my original work might be well received. You have made such a difference to my confidence in my own work, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for that. I will miss this story more than you can imagine, but life goes on, I suppose.

Thank you all so much,

randombookworm29 x


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